O’Rourke leads Irish in Finland

DERVAL O’ROURKE renews rivalry with European indoor and outdoor hurdles champion Susanna Kallur at the European Cup in Vaasa, Finland this weekend on a crucial weekend for Irish athletics.

Ireland, having won Division One status last year, have to pull out all the stops to retain that grading in Finland. Anna Boyle withdrew from the 100m during the week and it is surprising that O’Rourke was not named as the replacement, given her ambitions to run on the flat.

Long jumper Kelly Proper suffered a slight knee injury last week but was scheduled to join the team yesterday. And it will be an important meeting for hammer record holder, Eileen O’Keeffe, who has joined the Kilty group this year. The Kilkenny thrower has been training full time since the beginning of June and went within a couple of centimetres of her Irish record in her first competition of the season. Kilty has high hopes for her in Finland when she will double up in the discus.