Carroll looks to improve track record in Cork

MARK CARROLL has confirmed his participation in the men’s 3,000m at the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 2 while his fiancée, Amy Rudolph, after a sensational 10,000m debut, drops back in distance to oppose double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes in the women’s 1,500m.

Australian Craig Mottram, three-time winner of the Great BUPA Ireland run, will be the one to beat in the men’s 3,000m.

Carroll has run some fine races at the Mardyke but in recent years the venue has not been kind to him.

The 10,000m is his target for the world championships in Helsinki next August but he knows if he is to match strides with the best he will have to improve.

With the meet some six weeks away, the line-up continues to grow in status. Rudolph - who is to wed Carroll next October - was sensational in the Great BUPA Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park last month and followed that up with a big win in the 10,000m in Stanford.

The 3,000m might have been a more suitable distance in Cork but she has elected to take on Kelly Holmes in what is building up to be quite a race.

Holmes has indicated that this will be one of her last competitive races outside of the world championships and possibly next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Georgie Clarke from Australia, once a teenage sensation, was also confirmed for the 1,500m yesterday, while Roisin McGettigan, who has had some fine runs over the distance in Cork in recent years, is another addition to the field.

Sonia O’Sullivan, too, will face some strong opposition in the women’s 3,000m. Kim Smith from New Zealand, who is coached by Irishman Ray Treacy in Providence, was confirmed yesterday. She has run 14:50 for 5,000m.

And she will be joined by Emilie Mondor from Canada who has also broken 15 minutes for 5,000m.

Former teenage sensation, America’s Alan Webb, joined the field for the men’s 1,500m yesterday.

The 22-year-old ran a sub-four-minute mile while still at high school, and is now building on that at senior level.

James Thie, who represented Great Britain in last year’s Olympic Games, will compete in the 1,500m. He has just finished college in the US.

England will also have a team in Cork to compete against Ireland in a one-per-event head-to-head.

At national level, it appears the Extraordinary General Meeting of the AAI called for by county boards will take place in July.