Derval shapes-up for world championships

DERVAL O’ROURKE went under 13 seconds twice last night as she fine tuned her preparations for the world championships in Leverkusen.

On a damp and overcast evening in Germany, the European silver medallist finished second in her heat of the 100m hurdles in 12.98 seconds, equalling her seasonal best,

Half an hour later she improved on that time in the final she again finished second to Dawn Harper of the US in 12.97 secs. The 23 year old American won in12.70 secs and the pair will meet again on Sunday afternoon.

“They were two solid performances,” her coach, Jim Kilty, said. “Having watched them both I would say the first run was the better of the two. It was a more controlled run than the final.

“In the final she lost time in the middle part of the race when she moved from side to side and she was a bit disappointed with that but it is a technicality that can be easily rectified so I would not be concerned about it.

“The fact of the matter is that she beat some very good athletes tonight in conditions that were damp and overcast including the Nigerian who had beaten her before.

“She will race against Dawn Harper again on Sunday and I am really looking forward to seeing that.”