Cuddihy passes first test in Korea

Ireland’s Joanne Cuddihy qualified impressively for the semi-finals of the 400 metres at the World Championships in Daegu tonight, but Paralympic 100m champion Jason Smyth went out.

Cuddihy finished third in her heat, behind former World Championship bronze medallist Novlene Williams-Mills and three-time 200m champion Allyson Felix.

The Dubliner clocked a season’s best of 51.82 seconds to go through.

“I really enjoyed that,” she said. “It was one of my most exciting races.”

Smyth, who is partially sighted and was competing at his first World Championships, could only finish fifth in his heat, which was won by American Walter Dix.

The 24-year-old, who trains in Florida with Tyson Gay, clocked 10.57secs, some way down on his best this year of 10.22.

“I was coming up against the best athletes in the world but I would have expected to run faster than that,” said Smyth, who won gold in the T13 100m and 200m at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“But for me coming to these championships is about seeing what it’s like to compete with the big boys.”