St Helens back rower James Bentley and Hull prop Lewis Bienek are among the new faces named in head coach Stuart Littler's first Ireland rugby league squad.

Phil Healy has described her coach Shane McCormack as a “mastermind” after the Bandon sprinter broke the long-standing Irish 100m record at Morton Stadium on Wednesday night.

Brian Gregan stole Ciara Mageean’s thunder as he set a new personal best at the Morton games as Mageean missed the two-minute mark.

Ireland’s incidence of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and colonic cancer (to name just three) is way above the European and global average, writes Paul Rouse.

The Cork woman who became an internet sensation this week following her astonishing ‘against-the-odds’ win in the 4x400-metre relay at the Irish University Athletics Championships has described the reaction as “absolutely insane”.

Do a Wikipedia search for ‘Joe Schmidt’ and you won’t be hit with a bio and pic of Ireland’s current rugby union coach, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Rob Heffernan walked away from the Morton Stadium frustrated as he saw a mid-afternoon red card in the men’s 10,000 metres walk.

TOP Irish athlete Mark English has few illusions about his sport of choice.

Morton Stadium danced a Jamaican beat last night as Yohan Blake set a new stadium record of 10.12 seconds as he continues his return to the top of the athletics tree.

The stage is set for a top class evening of athletics at the Morton Games in Morton Stadium, Santry this evening headlined by the second fastest man in history, Yohan Blake, and World Universities 400m hurdles champion Thomas Barr.

Athletics: The national indoor championships take place in Athlone this weekend with two headline acts having travelled very different paths to star in the midlands and then, hopefully, on the European stage next month.

The Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority are merging and will become Sport Ireland.

Athletics

Ciarán Ó Lionáird believes he has nothing to lose going into the 1500m showdown for a plane ticket to Zurich at the GloHealth National Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium this weekend.

Thomas Barr goes into Tuesday’s Cork City Sports ranked number three in Europe over 400m hurdles and he believes the home meet can help him in his quest for a medal at the European Championships in August.

Naas ace Jack Hume produced a strongman finish to beat his fitness coach and capture the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland at Rosses Point yesterday.

MARK Rohan lives the life of a professional athlete but he remembers how it was before a motorbike accident left him with four broken bones in his back, four compound fractures of his right leg, a bone broken on his left foot, four broken ribs, a torn Aorta, a broken sternum and a broken clavicle.

Cork’s Brian Murphy showed true grit in the men’s 400m to win his third national title in a row in 47.14, as Kelly Proper was laden with gold and four national titles in monsoon conditions at the 141st Woodie’s DIY National Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium over the weekend.

Middle-distance athlete Laura Crowe may have to throw in the towel on achieving qualification for next month’s World Championships.

Ireland’s double European Cross-Country Champion Fionnuala Britton will miss next month’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow after announcing she is to take an “extended break” from the sport.

Ireland steered well clear of relegation in League 1 of the European Team Championships in Morton Stadium over the weekend to record their best ever placing of seventh but the “sporting extravaganza” that was promised never materialised.

Athletics Ireland High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom admitted Ireland will be fighting for survival at the European Team Championships first league in Morton Stadium on June 22/23 on the announcement of the team yesterday.

Brian Gregan sprinted to victory in 21.05 seconds in the 200m at a lack-lustre Woodie’s DIY AAI Open Games yesterday that was designed as a dry run for the European Team Championships in Morton Stadium.

Robert Heffernan was a frustrated figure after his ninth place finish in 1:23:26 over 20km at the European Cup of Race Walking in Dudince, Slovakia yesterday as he took a heavy fall at 12km when in contention.

Derval O’Rourke’s participation in next month’s London Olympics is in doubt after she pulled out of yesterday’s defence of her 100m hurdles title at the Woodies DIY national championships in Morton Stadium.

Joanne Cuddihy cast aside the pain of the elimination of younger sister Catriona’s from the women’s Olympic 4x400m squad to win the Athlete of the Meet award at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

The Woodie’s DIY National Championships take place at the Morton Stadium, Santry this weekend.

Morton Stadium in Santry, Co. Dublin, will host a pre-Olympic Games International track and Field Meet on Wednesday 25 July.

It’s a busy weekend for young Irish athletes with the annual AVIVA Tailteann Irish Schools Interprovincial Track & Field meeting taking place at the Morton Stadium, Santry today, followed tomorrow by the Irish Junior & U23 Championships in Tullamore.

Athletes from Vietnam and Zambia will train in Ireland ahead of the Paralympic Games, it has emerged.

PEAMOUNT UNITED are two points clear at the summit of the Bus Éireann FAI Women’s National League following a 3-2 victory over Cork Women’s FC at Greenogue yesterday.

Raheny United today went top of the Bus Éireann National Women’s League with a 4-1 victory over Dublin rivals Peamount United.

BE careful, there’s no panic,” Sean Baldwin says as he places the rifle in my arms and I look through the sights at a target the size of a saucer, 10m down the hall at Morton Stadium last Tuesday morning.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE (Loughrea AC), silver medallist in the women’s 20k walk in Berlin two years ago, will lead the Irish team into the World Championships in Daegu, Korea, at the end of the month.

DERVAL O’ROURKE (Leevale) bounced back from a disastrous run in Crystal Palace the previous day to win her ninth title at the Woodies DIY National Senior Championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN made a dramatic return to competition at the Woodies DIY National Senior Championships at Morton Stadium yesterday and retained his men’s 10,000m walk title in an impressive 40:1.64.

Derval O'Rourke continued her build-up for the World Championships by winning her ninth national title at Santry's Morton Stadium today.

Paul Hession ran his fastest time of the year at today's Woodie's DIY National Senior Track & Field Championships, and in doing so secured his place at the 2012 Olympics.

CIARÁN Ó LIONÁIRD (Leevale), fresh from his sensational 1,500m run in Oordegem, Belgium, will contest the 800m at this weekend’s Woodies DIY national senior championships at Morton Stadium, Santry.

DERVAL O’ROURKE faces a busy few days as she fine tunes her preparations for the world championships in Daegu later this month.