Hession on song in Finland

AFTER breaking the national 100m record for the second time this season with 10.18 secs for second place Saturday, Paul Hession put the finishing touches to a sensational weekend at the European Cup in Vaasa, Finland, by beating European silver medallist, Johan Wissman (Sweden), in the 200m yesterday.

His time of 20.61 seconds into a headwind of one metre per second was a superb performance by the Athenry man with Cuus Hoogman (The Netherlands), who won the 100m on Saturday, back in third place.

There was a second national record for Ireland yesterday when Eileen O’Keeffe from Kilkenny broke her own hammer mark twice in the competition. After throwing 67 metres on her first visit to the circle, she threw 69.44 metres twice before fouling her fourth throw — only four throws are allowed in European Cup competition which puts added pressure on competitors.