Budapest a lucky venue for the Irish

IRISH ATHLETES will be looking for inspiration from past performances in Budapest when they go into action in the 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Sportarena today.

Budapest has been a very lucky venue for Irish athletes in the past, going back to the 1966 European Championships when Limerickman, Jim Hogan, won the marathon gold medal, albeit in the British vest.

This time it's clearly going to be an awful lot more difficult for the Irish with a team which is made up, in the main by sprinters.

This is a major contrast from the days when Irish middle distance athletes took five gold medals and two silver before Paul McKee made it a bronze in the 400m last year.

Gary Ryan, the veteran of the team at 31, goes into action in the heats of the 60m with Paul Brizzel reserving himself for his main event tomorrow, the 200m.

Ryan has competed in eight major championships in the past and clearly is up against it in his efforts to make the top two automatic qualifiers from a field of eight.

His best time of 6.73 sec the Irish record leaves him only sixth fastest and while he is very fit from a recent series of races in Australia it's difficult to see him qualifying for the second round.

A lot will be expected from our 400m runners later this morning, not least Karen Shinkins in the women's event where she is joined by the up and coming Kilkenny star, Joanne Cuddihy.

Many of the world's leading stars are missing from the championships as they prepare for the Olympics.