Athletics: The clouds lift as silver ladies dance a jig in Edinburgh

EVERY cloud has a silver lining and that’s how it turned out for the Irish women’s team at the European cross-country championships in Edinburgh yesterday when the dark rain cloud dipped behind the Haggis Knowe and they swept past a shocked French team to claim their silver team medals.

Ten minutes earlier it was the Irish team members who were puzzled after surrendering a slender but desperately defended lead to Portugal and France in a fiercely fought last lap.

Then it was discovered Catherina McKiernan, who finished 34th, had been overlooked in the calculations and the error was rectified at the last minute.