O’Rourke using World Indoors as stepping stone to Olympic success

This weekend's World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Istanbul are surely going to whet the appetite in terms of what lies ahead for the rest of the year.

The European Track and Field Championships take place in Helsinki starting on June 27, while the Olympics take centre stage starting on August 3.

Just three athletes have decided to compete for Ireland in Istanbul.

Leevale athletes Derval O’Rourke and Ciarán Ó Lionáird go in the 60m hurdles and 1,500m respectively, while Ben Reynolds from North Down makes his debut in an Irish singlet in the men’s 60m hurdles.

Reynolds previously declared for the GB & NI team but they didn’t seem too interested in providing him with international competition so he made the big switch.

This will mostly be a learning experience for him and he should enjoy racing against the leading Chinese, American and Cuban athletes, many of whom he would only have seen on television before.

Derval O’Rourke seems to have overcome a niggling foot injury that prevented her from competing in two meets recently.

The only worrying thing for her is the lack of competitive races that would have blown away the cobwebs in preparation for this huge test.

However, Derval has shown over and over again that her competitive streak can more than make up for missed training and races.

It is now six years since she announced her arrival on the international athletic scene with gold in the World Indoor Championships in Moscow’s Olimpiski Sports Arena.

An unexpected gold medallist way back then, O’Rourke’s time of 7.84, two hundreds of a second clear of Spain’s Glory Alozie, sent shock waves around the athletic world. Ireland were unknown as sprinters with David Gillick’s European indoor gold 12 months earlier just a sign that Ireland, forever known as a middle and long-distance race nation, were now ready to compete in the sprints.

The 30-year-old Cork woman makes her return to these championships today, far more renowned and experienced than she was as a 24-year-old in 2006. Silver medals in the European outdoor championships of 2006 and 2010, coupled with the fourth placed finish in the Beijing Olympics, makes O’Rourke one of the bookies’ favourites.

In the build-up to the championships Derval has been off the required pace for a medal, 8.16 in Linz and 8.18 in Vienna were followed by a victory in the Irish indoors in 8.21. This is some way off her Personal Best of 7.84, the time she clocked in Moscow six years ago.

Although O’Rourke’s times in the build-up to these championships are not what are required, today’s championships could be seen as a stepping stone in her preparation for her trip to London in August. Reserved and coy about her plans for 2012, O’Rourke may possibly forego a medal in March and lay the ground work for one last shot at the big one in August.

The Cork native likes indoor competitions as they are less tricky than the outdoor races where a tail wind could push her forward into the hurdles, or the head wind may make them more difficult to clear. The race will be 50% of what lies ahead in London, five hurdles rather than the 10 she faces outdoors mean the technique has to be spot on also.

Although sharpness might be a little away, there is no doubting O’Rourke’s pedigree at this level. Last year saw a fourth-placed finish in the European Indoors in Paris. Although the World Outdoor Championships over 100 meter hurdles saw O’Rourke withdraw from the semi-final with injury, the experience of the Cork woman means she is one to watch.

It is no surprise that she lists two of Cork’s finest sports stars as her inspiration, Sonia O’Sullivan and Roy Keane, both of whom ran through the pain barriers to cross the line and never heard that whistle sound. Something O’Rourke has in abundance.

Some may say this is the not one she aims for and that, at 30 years of age, the injuries have caught up with her, but O’Rourke is a true winner and never shows her hand until the main stage.

O’Rourke’s main competition in Istanbul lies in the shape of British pair Jessica Ennis and Tiffany Porter along with American Kristi Castlin, as all three have recorded season bests in line with the Irish woman’s Personal Best.

Derval O’Rourke’s Indoor campaign starts this afternoon at 3pm Irish time with the final scheduled for 5.45pm tomorrow.