City prepares for new queen of the track

THE basket girls and boys are the envy of other youngsters at all major athletics meetings. They are the privileged ones who get to carry the athletes’ gear. For years, Derval O’Rourke was one at the Mardyke.

“I would position myself so that I might get Sonia O’Sullivan — I was always in awe of her — but I never did,” she recalled yesterday.

The reigning world indoor 60m hurdles champion was back on her home patch to launch this year’s edition of the BUPA Cork City Sports, with Sonia O’Sullivan sitting nearby at the top table.