O’Rourke ruled out of Belfast meet with foot injury

DERVAL O’ROURKE’S defence of her world indoor 60m hurdles title was in jeopardy last night after she withdrew from next weekend’s Woodies DIY Irish indoor athletic championships at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast with a foot injury.

It was at the Odyssey two years ago that she launched the great adventure that took her to the gold medal at the world indoor championships in Moscow and a European silver medal in Gothenburg the following summer.

And it was just hours after confirmation that her great rival, British indoor 60m record holder, Sarah Claxton, had joined the field for Sunday’s race that the shock news came.

The Cork starlet explained that she had picked up a foot injury a few days ago. She then saw world-renowned sports injury therapist, Gerard Hartman, and he strongly advised against placing the foot under any pressure for at least the next two weeks, though it is understood that there is no stress fracture.

O’Rourke told Athletics Northern Ireland that while she deeply regretted not racing at the Odyssey, she could not afford to jeopardise her key objectives for this year which obviously includes the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Last year she missed the Odyssey meet as a result of a pre-season injury.

After the world indoor championships in Moscow two years ago she injured an abdominal muscle which sidelined her for nine weeks but she bounced back to equal her national record on a season debut at Cork City Sports and went on to win a silver medal at the European outdoor championships, taking her 100m hurdles to a new level.

But with the world indoor championships getting under way in Valencia on March 7 she may not have time on her side this time around.

Since last season she has changed coaches, parting company with Jim Kilty and joined world-renowned hurdles coach, Malcolm Arnold in Bath.

Arnold coached the late legendary John Akii-Bua who set a world record at 47.82 seconds from Lane 1 when winning the Olympic 400m title in 1972 and, in recent years, Colin Jackson.

Sunday’s 60m hurdles will include Jenny Kallur from Sweden, twin sister of the European indoor and outdoor champion Susanna, and Sarah Claxton.

John Moffitt from the US who won the silver medal in the long jump at the Athens Olympics will also be among the stars in action at the Odyssey.

The women’s High Jump includes Deirdre Ryan who set a new national record of 1.92m when winning the AAA title in 2006. She faces former European junior silver medallist Julian Hartmann, Germany, who jumped 1.93m in March.

Paul Hession from Athenry will be absent as will Mark Christie. Hession has been training in South Africa while Christie is getting back after a below par performance at the European cross-country championships.