Hession plays it cool ahead of Barcelona

WITH the majority of the Irish athletes due to fly into Barcelona today, Paul Hession has opted to remain at the training camp in Murcia until Monday, the day before the European Championships get under way.

The Athenry sprinter – one of Ireland’s big medal hopes – wants to keep as relaxed as possible in advance of the heats of the 200m which get underway at 10.30am (Irish time) on Thursday. “I’m definitely excited and looking forward to it,” he said. “I just need to keep as calm and as relaxed as possible over the next six days.”

Throughout the season he has been creeping quietly into the Euro medal mix. He ran his first 200m at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Rome and finished third in 20.60 secs behind Walter Dix and Wallace Spearmon. Then he posted what was the fastest time by a European at that point when he won the 200m at the European Team Championships in Budapest in 20.46 secs.

After that he dead heated with arch rival Brendan Christian (Antigua & Barbado) in an exciting finish into a gale force headwind at Cork City Sports. Four days later he equalled his 20.46 seasonal best when he finished fourth in the Samsung Diamond League meet in Lausanne where victory again went to Olympic bronze medallist Walter Dix.

The next Diamond League meeting in Gateshead clashed with the national championships but he made the most of it with solid 20.77 win in atrocious conditions in Santry.

“It’s all been good and I am very happy with it,” he said. “My training has all been going according to plan and my races have been solid. All the time I knew this was going to be my main race. This is the race I have been preparing for all year – preparing mentally as well as physically – making sure I would be ready.

“The training camp here in Murcia has been good. There has been a good atmosphere throughout and everyone is pretty focused. The fact I have my coach Stuart (Hogg) here with me means a lot. It has been really helpful having him here. It was all about bringing up the pace and the volume and then bringing it back down to peak.

“I had hoped to be able to do some sessions with Jason (Smyth) but he had a race in France midweek so it was not possible. We will have a session together tomorrow before he leaves.”

Christophe Lemaître arrives in Barcelona at the top of the European rankings for both the 100m and 200m and with a genuine opportunity to match Francis Obikwelu’s sprint double in Gothenburg four years ago.

The 20-year-old Frenchman has been in sublime form. At the national championships in Valence, he broke the 10-second barrier in the 100m, setting a national record 9.98 and the following day broke another national record to win the 200m in 20.16.

He may be young, but Lemaître already has valuable experience of major championships success. He won a gold medal at 100m at last year’s European Junior Championships when he set the European record and he was just 18 when he won the 200m at the World Junior Championships two years ago.

The French also have medal hopes for Martial Mbandjock, who clocked a 200m best of 20.38 secs last month.

Germany have Sebastian Ernst, European junior champion back in 2003, and European U23 silver medallist in 2005. He clocked 20.38 secs in Mannheim this season and Sweden have Johan Wissman, who won the silver medal in 2006.

“There are seven or eight in the mix for medals and I am one of them,” Hession said. “It is all going to be very exciting and it’s all about getting through the rounds. I want to come off the track knowing that I have done my best. I have done all I can this year and whatever it is at the end of the day I should be happy with it”

Meanwhile, Alistair Cragg put the finishing touches to his 5,000m preparations with a smart 7:44.15 run for fifth place in a 3,000m in Liege with all four ahead of him – Jacob Chesari (Kenya), 7:38.53, Vincent Rono (Kenya), 7:41.18, Japheth Korir (Kenya), 7:41.38 and Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia), 7:41.39, all setting personal bests.