O’Sullivan struggling to make Morton meet

SONIA O’SULLIVAN could miss next weekend’s Woodies DIY national senior track and field championships with a foot problem that has been bothering her for some weeks now.

The weekend before last she was forced to pull up in the 5,000m at the AAA championships in Manchester when the pain became quite severe.

"I have had various people look at it but I am not too sure what the problem is," she said yesterday. "I can run in a straight line but I can't run on the track. It only affects me when I run around corners and there are a lot of bends in a 5,000m race."

She said there is no swelling and it is something inside the foot which is causing the problem.

"I will go over to Limerick tomorrow night and let Gerard Hartmann have a look at it," she said. "I will stay there for a few days, let him examine it and he will also look at me running. Whether or not I compete on Sunday and if I do, what event will depend on what he says. I don't want to do any further damage."

After a disappointing performance at the BUPA Cork City Sports her participation in the world championships in Helsinki in two weeks times was up in the air. She had indicated that competing there would depend on how she performed in the 3,000m at Cork City Sports, which was her first track event of the year, and then the national championships where she had planned to run the 5,000m.

If she competes at Morton Stadium it could be in one of the shorter events she holds the national records in all the middle distance events from 800m to 10,000m but Helsinki could still be a possibility.

However, with Maria McCambridge and Jolene Byrne in form her presence in the 5,000m at the weekend would ensure an exciting contest.

Meanwhile David Gillick is optimistic that he will be competing over the weekend. The European indoor 400m champion had to withdraw from the final of the 400m at the European Under-23 championships in Erfurt at the weekend.

He withdrew from the BUPA Cork City Sports with a suspect hamstring but it was a back problem that caused him to pull out at the weekend.

He will be having treatment on it over the coming days and, like Sonia O'Sullivan, will make a decision later in the week.

Sprinter Paul Hession has also been struggling with a back problem and had to withdraw from the team for the European Under-23's.

Mark Carroll's hopes of making the qualifying standard at 10,000m for the world championships evaporated on Saturday night when he pulled up in the 10,000m at a meet in New York with six laps remaining. This was his final opportunity of making the qualifying standard.

Ciaran Ó Lionaird finished 10th in the final of the 1,500m at the world youth's championships on Sunday evening in 3:59.00. He was the second placed European runner in the race which was dominated by the Africans.