Irish record holder Paul McKee has reached the semi-finals of the men’s 400 metres at the European Championships in Munich.
McKee, ranked seventh in Europe this season, came home a second behind Germany’s Ingo Schultz (45.79) in his heat with a time of 46.03 seconds, just under half a second slower than his personal best.
But the two other Irish 400m runners failed to qualify. Celbridge youngster David McCarthy - at 19 the second-youngest male athlete competing in Munich - ran 47.30, and Robert Daly clocked 46.67.
In the blue-riband 100 metres, Britain's number one sprinter Dwain Chambers blew away the misery of his Commonwealth Games failure by easily qualifying for the next round.
Tipped for the title in Manchester, Chambers pulled up with cramp in the incident-packed 100m final last month and had to watch Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis take the gold medal.
But he showed no signs of the cramp as he breezed through his first-round heat in the Olympic Stadium, winning in 10.23 seconds. "I'm still standing man, don't worry, I feel good," he said afterward.
Reigning champion Darren Campbell, who won bronze in the 200m and gold in the 4x100m relay at the Commonwealths, finished second in his heat in 10.36 seconds. Georgios Theodoridis of Greece won in 10.24.