Derval warms-up in Portugal for the next big steps

DERVAL O’ROURKE will commence building on the phenomenal year that was 2009 when she travels to Portugal for warm weather training tomorrow – she already had a session in Cork over the festive season when she sneaked into the CIT track in Bishopstown.

Her big targets for 2010 are the world indoor championships in Doha and the European outdoor championships in Barcelona while home fans will have an opportunity to see her in action in her first hurdles race of the season at the Woodies DIY Irish indoor championships in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on February 7.

The Odyssey has always been a happy hunting ground for the Leevale starlet. In 2006 she beat the world silver medallist, Deloreen Ennis-London (Jamaica) in the 60m hurdles and then went on to win the world indoor title in sensational style in Moscow. The following summer she won a silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the European championships in Gothenburg.

“Belfast will probably be my first hurdle race of the year,” she said. “I always enjoy running in the Odyssey Arena. When I beat Deloreen Ennis-London in 2006 it was a really big scalp for me. I ran 7.90 secs which was a quite a good time and that’s why I am excited about going back, apart from the fact that they are the national championships and they are always special.”

But while it would be easy to become distracted by the world indoors in March and the European outdoors at the end of July, she admitted past experience has taught her not to look too far ahead.

“I can’t look too far ahead – no more than six months – so at the moment I am only looking at the worlds. My aim is to make the final.”

Her renowned do-or-die attitude paid off at the world championships in Berlin last August when she finished fourth in the final of the 100m hurdles and set a new national record at 12.67 seconds.

She had Olympic champion, Dawn Harper (USA), as well as the Olympic silver medallist and the fastest woman at the championships, Sally McLellan of Australia, behind her when she took fourth behind Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Jamaica), 12.51 secs, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Canada), 12.54 secs, and Delloreen Ennis-London (Jamaica), 12.55 secs.

She ran her third fastest time ever to get through the first round and then ran to within a 100th of a second of her national record – 12.73 secs – behind Harper and McLellan to get out of the semi-finals.

“I knew I had to run my socks off to make the final,” she recalled. “And then I did not want to be the person who is just a token lane in the final.”

Now she wants more of the same and will open up with some 60-metre races just to get the competitive side of her moving.

“I don’t have a clue where Paul (Doyle) will get me the races. I have not run 60m indoors since 2001 and my best time is crap – just two 10ths quicker than my hurdles. We’ll run a few 60s because it takes me a while to get into the season. The competitive side of me comes out quicker when I race.”

O’Rourke feeds off pressure and is hungry for more. “I don’t mind pressure at all I only wish could put myself more under pressure in Grand Prix races,” she said.

“Last season was great for me. Now that I have made a world final and performed in a world final I feel it solidifies me as a world-class athlete.”

Next July she will be the star attraction at Cork City Sports when Ireland’s athletics showpiece moves from its spiritual home at The Mardyke to the CIT Track in Bishopstown.

And this week, in need of a run, she had a preview of what to expect underfoot when she got a sneak preview of the stadium.

“It is looking fabulous,” she said. “I am really looking forward to competing there.”

She has already laid down the markers for the coming year with her coaches Sean and Terri Cahill. Sean is a former international hurdler while Terri (nee Horgan), who hails from Mallow held the Irish long jump record until it was broken by Kelly Proper this year.

“Sean is my rock,” she said. “I go to him with everything. Terri has been such a major influence. She writes the training programmes and Sean looks them over. She does all the hard work nobody sees.”

The Woodies DIY Irish Indoor championships take place at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, on February 6-7 and this is the seventh time they will be staged at the venue which has an indoor hydraulic 200m running track.