Hession set to take on former world champ Collins

KIM COLLINS will provide a formidable challenge for Paul Hession in the sprints when Cork City Sports relocates to the plush surroundings of the CIT Track in Bishopstown on Saturday week.

The St Kitts & Nevis sprinter who took the world by storm with a stunning victory in the 100m at the world championships in Paris in 2003 continues to be a force in world athletics.

After Paris in 2003 he finished sixth in the 100m final at the Athens Olympics the following year and he ended up sixth in the 200m in Beijing two years ago (20.59) – part of a sensational final in which Usain Bolt set a new world record at 19.30 seconds.

Remarkably slim for a sprinter, he has a Highway named after him in St Kitts and after battling his way back to full fitness, is ready to take on the world’s top sprinters again.

“We are going to see some exciting competition between himself and Paul Hession,” meet organiser, Dick Hodgins, said. “Paul is practically unbeatable in Cork, particularly over 200m, and we saw him run the fastest time by a European at the European Team Championships in Budapest at the weekend.”

Collins is one of two former world champions who will be on parade at the Bishopstown venue following confirmation at the weekend that Lauryn Williams from the USA will be in action in the women’s sprints.

Williams, a Finance graduate of the University of Miami, has enjoyed a spectacular career since taking the silver medal in the women’s 100m at the Athens Olympics in 2004. She was fourth in Beijing. A former world junior champion she won the 100m title at the world championships in Helsinki in 2005 and has a total of three gold medals from relays.

“She is going to provide very good opposition for own sprinters who are on the crest of a wave at the moment,” Dick Hodgins said.

Craig Mottram was another to confirm his participation at the weekend when he chose the 1,500m as his event.

“He contacted me from Flagstaff where he is training inquiring about the 3,000m – he holds the record for that distance in Cork – but when he heard the line-up for the 1,500m he decided he wanted to be a part of that.

“He is always a big favourite in Cork and has won the 1,500m on a previous visit as well as the 3,000.”

He had surgery after the Beijing Olympics and is now ready to take on the Africans again on the European circuit. He split them when he won a bronze medal at the world championships in 2005 and has been second twice at the Commonwealth Games – an event he is targeting again this year.

Kelly Proper was forced to withdraw from the European Team Championships last weekend with a chest infection but she will be back in action for Cork City Sports when her opposition in the long jump will include Jade Johnson from Great Britain who has been consistently around 6.56m.

World silver medallist, Olive Loughnane, will compete in the women’s 3k walk while Robert Heffernan, after last year’s record breaking performance, will return for the men’s 3k walk.