US sprinters Cork bound
He may not have won the race last year — Marlon Devonish snatched a wind-swept victory en route to a sensational sprint double — but Bernard Williams, who performs as a stand-up comedian back home in California, won the hearts of those who braved the elements.
He was returning from injury on his first visit but this time he is coming from the finals of the US championships, sharper and fitter and determined to exact vengeance on the Englishman.
Williams was a member of the US sprint relay team that won the gold medals at the Olympics in Sydney and followed that up with an individual silver medal in Athens two years ago.
Tyree Washington was a runaway winner of the 400m last year but could not find a place in the 400m field this year. World indoor champion at 400m in Birmingham in 2003 and a member of the US relay team that won the 4 x 400m relay at the world indoors in Moscow this year, he also won individual bronze and silver medals at the world outdoor championships in 1997 in Athens and Paris in 2003.
“Obviously the 400m is his prime event and we would have liked to accommodate him but the fact that we must have a minimum of three European athletes in each event did not allow us to do that,” meet director, Dick Hodgins, said.
David Gillick has switched from the 400m to the 200m. The European indoor 400m champion has been training in Barcelona since the European Cup and arrives back in Ireland today.
“I came here directly from the Europa Cup and have been working on my speed,” he said. “I need to get my 200m times down and that’s the reason I decided to switch.”
The inclusion of Washington and Gillick adds an exciting dimension to the 200m. Marlon Devonish, last year’s winner, will be back along with Ireland’s Paul Hession and Gary Ryan as well as the Czech Republic champion, Jiri Vojtik who won that particular title in 20.77 and will celebrate his 20th birthday in a month’s time. He has run a wind assisted 20.63 and his best last season was 20.69.
David Gillick’s place in the 400m will be filled by Corkman Brian Murphy (UCC) who was fifth last year but has shown dramatic improvement since then.
Moushami Robinson has been added to the field for the women’s 400m. Fresh from the American championships where she finished fourth, she could not be accommodated in this event originally but when the South African withdrew yesterday she was switched from the 200m.
Her presence sets the scene for what promises to be a very fast women’s 400m with Karen Shinkins and Joanne Cuddihy combining to offer a strong Irish challenge.
Laban Rotich is an exciting addition to the field for the men’s 1,500m. The Kenyan, who set a world high altitude best of 3:33.1 in 1998 has been involved in many of the great 1,500m races in recent years. He finished fourth in the 1996 Olympic final in Atlanta, was Commonwealth Games champion in 1998 and holds silver and bronze medals from world indoor championships.
He has also held three Kenyan national 1,500m records, and the Kenyan record for the mile.
Kevin Sullivan has switched from the 1,500m to the 3,000m in pursuit of the Canadian record. Here he joins a powerful field headed by last year’s winner, Craig Mottram from Australia, and Ireland’s Alistair Cragg on his first visit to Cork.
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