Cuddihy’s Olympic boost

Joanne Cuddihy cast aside the pain of the elimination of younger sister Catriona’s from the women’s Olympic 4x400m squad to win the Athlete of the Meet award at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

Paul Hession (Athenry AC) also underscored his well-being heading for London in a spectacular finish to the men’s 100m, in which he edged out Jason Smyth (City of Derry) by 100th of a second, 10.37 secs to 10.38, with Steven Colvert (Crusaders) third in 10.59.

Cuddihy, who will doubly engaged at the London Olympics as an individual in the women’s 400m and as a member of the 4x400m squad, swept to victory in the 200m on Saturday with a time of 23.15 secs, which would have been a personal best but for the tailwind and she was back yesterday to defend her 400m title in 51.89 secs.