Safety first as O’Rourke eases into semi-finals

DERVAL O’ROURKE, cautious rather than spectacular, eased her way into the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles at the European championships in Gothenburg with a performance that earned her a centre lane in this evening’s semi-finals — and an outstanding chance of making the final later on where she will be a contender for the bronze medal at least.

From the remote surroundings of Lane 8 she flew out of the blocks and established a qualification position over the first two hurdles, then relaxed to finish second to Aleksandra Antonova in 13.06 secs. She won’t meet the Russian again until the final and at that stage of competition the medals will be up for grabs. Following the performances of Sweden’s Susan Kallur (12.70 secs) and Kirsten Bolm of Germany (12.83 secs), the indications are that they will be contesting the bronze medal with Aurelia Tryianska (Poland) and Glory Alozie of Spain, the defending champion.

O’Rourke has shown she can handle the cut and thrust of championship running.