Irish joy as O’Rourke and Gillick bounce back in Budapest

DERVAL O’ROURKE rediscovered her winning form in the women’s 100m hurdles while David Gillick put the memories of his false start at The Mardyke behind him with an emphatic victory in the men’s 400m at the Honved International in Budapest last night.

O’Rourke also had a devastating experience at the blocks in Cork City Sports a week earlier but last night she left nothing to chance as she raced away from the field to win her event in a smart if not spectacular 13.06 secs, which saw her finish 0.84 secs ahead of her nearest rival.

“The margin of victory speaks for itself — she had to literally run the race on her own,” her coach, Jim Kilty, said. “She was absolutely thrilled with the run, and of course the win, and she will now compete in the 100m flat tomorrow.”

After the bitter disappointment of Cork City Sports last Saturday it was a welcome return to form and the perfect boost in advance of next Tuesday’s Grand Prix 1 meeting in Lausanne, where she will line up in a stellar field.

Similarly David Gillick was looking for something special from last night’s meeting in Budapest and he got in form with a splendid victory in 45.72 secs which placed him well clear of England’s Conrad Williams who finished second in 46.35 secs.

Alistair Cragg made his European seasonal debut in a very competitive 3,000m at the Golden League in Paris where his fifth placing did not reflect his contribution to an epic race won by Moses Kipsiro. Kipsiro beat young Joseph Ebuya in a repeat of the 3,000m at Cork City Sports last Saturday.

But it was Cragg who dominated the race until the last 200m. He was third behind the two pacemakers as they covered the first two kilometres in 2:39.9 and then 2:34.3.

Then, when Laban Rotich, who won the mile at the Lee Strand International in Castleisland on Monday night, dropped out he was left on his own.

Going out on the last lap, another Kenyan, Boniface Songok, snatched the lead but Cragg, who set a new national record for 10,000m at 27:39.55 in May, surged clear again and opened up a lead going into the final 300m. He appeared to have the measure of Songok but Kipsoro came through from fourth place to win in 7:39.02, chased by Ebuyo, 7:39.53 with Songok third in 7:40.21. Edwin Cheruiyot Soi edged out Cragg for fourth place , 7:40.30 to 7:40.31.

In Paris, world champion, Michelle Perry from the USA, kept herself in line for a share of the golden bars when she won a dramatic 100m hurdles in 12.56 secs.

The newly-crowned American champion, Virginia Powell hit the second last hurdle when she moved up to challenge for the lead and ended up on the track.

Second place went to the European champion, Susanna Kallur (Sweden) in 12.68 secs with another American, LoLo Jones, third in 12.71 secs.