Cuddihy gets poor reward for heroics

JOANNE CUDDIHY probably won’t win a medal at the European championships in Gothenburg — a cruel draw may have decided that last night when she drew Lane 1 for tonight’s final — but she won a special place in the hearts of Irish athletics fans with a courageous performance in the semi-finals of the women’s 400m.

The 22-year-old Kilkenny athlete, making her debut at this level, put all her chips on the table last evening when she went in against the gold medal favourite, Olga Zayteva, and her Russian team mate, Tatyana Veshkurova.

She blazed the first 250m with a ferocity that had her in contention for the lead at the crown of the bend and it was only in the closing stages that the supreme effort took its toll and she crossed the line in third place in a new personal best time of 51.09 seconds — just 0.02 of a second outside Karen Shinkins’ national record.