Golden girl Holmes to compete at Cork City Sports

DOUBLE Olympic champion Kelly Holmes will compete at the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 2.

Holmes, who won the 800m and 1500m in Athens, confirmed her participation from her training base in South Africa yesterday.

“Kelly Holmes will compete in the 1,500m at our July 2 meet,” said Dick Hodgins, chairman of the City Sports Committee.

“We received confirmation from her this morning through her agent in the US and we are obviously delighted with the news. Our next task will be to put a credible field together that will feature elite athletes from abroad but we are always very conscious of accommodating our own athletes.”

Hodgins admitted that the presence of Holmes, four weeks ahead of the World Athletics Championship in August, will help increase interest in the prestigious event at the Mardyke.

“The fact that the meeting takes place so close to the world championships is an added bonus and, as a result of this, we are expecting a lot of enquiries over the coming weeks. Kelly’s presence alone has given the meet a very high profile internationally but we had always planned this to be an extra special meeting on account of the fact that it is one of the big events on the programme for the European City of Culture.

“We were able to make contact through one of her management team, Andy Graffan, who ran a pb for 5,000m at The Mardyke a few years ago. He was very impressed with the meeting and the way the athletes were treated and had no hesitation recommending the meet to Kelly.”

There is no possibility that Sonia O’Sullivan will line up alongside Holmes in the 1,500m as the Cobh athlete is committed to the 3,000m.

But there will be a big Irish presence in the race, which has been won by an Irish athlete every year since 1999 when Elaine Fitzgerald, now High Performance Director for Athletics Ireland, won en route to the world championships in Seville.

After that Freda Davoren, Geraldine Hendricken (who set the meet record at 4:06.59 in 2002), Sonia O’Sullivan in one of the most competitive races ever held in this country, and Davoren again last year, have won.

Hodgins said that Hendricken, who served a two-year drug ban, will be welcome to compete. “Obviously we will be anxious to accommodate our own athletes who might not otherwise be able to avail of competition of this quality,” he said.