Coach Cahill impressed as O’Rourke now ahead of schedule

DERVAL O’ROURKE’S performance in Chaux du Fonds, Switzerland, on Sunday is all the more impressive considering she is right in the middle of a hard block of training, according to her coach, Sean Cahill.

The European silver medallist finished second in her 100m hurdles race in 12.85 secs. That was comfortably inside the Olympic qualifying standard set at 12.96 secs when finishing second in what was just her third race of the season. “She certainly did the job,” Cahill said. “We probably would have been prepared to give her five or six races to get down to that time.”

Cahill’s wife and fellow coach Terri was trackside to watch her perform and was happy although she watched her hit the fourth hurdle. “Terri was impressed with the way she got it back together,” Sean said. “She straightened up pretty quickly and it did not seem all that bad to the naked eye. But it was only her third race and she was under pressure and when she is under pressure she reverts to what she is good at — toughing it out.