PETER COGHLAN, a 21 year old student at Yale, broke new, ground when he returned a time of 13.96 seconds for 110 metres hurdles at the Ivy League athletics championships in New Haven last weekend. While he was assisted by a following wind of 2.4 it is not of any great benefit to hurdlers and can be a hindrance, disrupting stride patterns.

This time makes Coghlan, from Dublin and a member of Crusaders, the youngest Irishman ever to dip below 14 seconds for the distance and only the third to do so. Given such early season form it is not inconceivable that he could get the Olympic qualifying time, and thereby join T J Kearns and Sean Cahill on the Atlanta start line.