Turin test set to get Hession’s season up and running

PAUL HESSION will get his new outdoor season under way tonight when he lines up for the 100m at the Primo Nebiolo Memorial Meeting which will be staged in Turin.

The Athenry sprinter, who just failed to make the final of the 200m at the Olympic Games in Beijing last year, has again opted for the shorter distance for his seasonal debut.

“In the past, I have opened up with a 100m and I want to keep that tradition going,” he said.

“There is quite a good field for the event – four Italians including two medallists from the European Indoor championships and two Jamaicans, Steve Mullings and Dwight Thomas.

“But it’s not an easy race and I would not be expected to win. Steve Mullings will be the favourite as he has run sub-10 seconds this year already. I just want to be competitive. Everything is going fine, training is fine and I am injury free again. I am just looking forward to getting going again and see where my training has taken me.”

Hession, who holds all the national sprint records from 60m to 200m, will race again next Wednesday in the European Athletics Festival at Bydgoszcz City Stadium where he will be joined by Derval O’Rourke who will be making her seasonal debut.

Both of them will be star attractions at Cork City Sports on July 4 when Hession, who had a sensational double at The Mardyke last year, will be defending both sprints.

Thomas was beaten by Hession in last year’s Mardyke showpiece and is set to return while City Sports Chairman, Dick Hodgins confirmed that Greg Nixon from the USA, who won the 400m last year, will also be returning.

He is delighted with the response from Irish athletes although he admitted they were still awaiting confirmation from a number of athletes.

“Derval (O’Rourke) and Paul Hession are obviously the big stars and when I spoke to Alister Craig a couple of weeks ago he said he was looking forward to coming although he was unsure as to when he would come across to Europe,” Hodgins said.

“Dave Campbell, who has a great record at Cork City Sports, has indicated he will be returning for the 1,500m and the Russian high jumper, Vyacheslav Voronin, has also confirmed along with James Nieto from the US who set a meet record at 2.30m last year.

“A big group have confirmed for the women’s sprints including Laverne Jones from the Virgin Islands who had a double last year and won the 100m the year before, and Tahesia Harrigan who is also among the fastest in the world. Brianna Glenn from the US who has won both the 100m and long jump here in the past will be back and will be joined by Alainn Pompey from Guyana, the Commonwealth champion, who is coached by Joe Ryan from Dublin.”

Ryan a former national sprints champion was coach to the Guyana Olympic Team in Beijing last year and competed many times at Cork City Sports.

Former world cross-country champion, Benita Johnson, from Australia is a former winner of the 3,000m at The Mardyke and is set to return. This time she will line up for the 1,500m alongside European indoor bronze medallist, Mary Cullen, who had planned a number of 1,500m races in the lead up to the world championships.

A stress fracture upset those plans but she is back training again and expects to compete in Cork where Kelly Proper (Ferrybank), the Irish record holder, will face a strong field in the women’s long jump.

A feature of this year’s meeting will be two relay events which will, according to national sprints coach, John Sheehan, help put the squad together for the 2012 Olympics.

He will have national senior and junior teams as well as a team from each of the provinces and a composite international side in action in what promises to be an exciting addition to the programme.