High hopes for high jumper O'Dwyer dashed

There was further bad news for Ireland at the Olympics this evening with the news that high-jumper Adrian O'Dwyer is out of the high jump competition.

Kilkenny man O'Dwyer was seen by many as the Irish track & field squad's best contender, ranked joint-11th in the world this season after adding 10 centimetres to his personal best to record a mark of 2.30m.

But 20-year-old O'Dwyer, a fiercely-confident character ahead of the event, failed to bring that form to Athens, failing at 2.10m to see him out of the competition amid fierce disappointment.