Cragg puts down a European marker

ATHLETICS: Alistair Cragg has established himself as the early favourite for the European championship 5,000 metres in Gothenburg in two months' time with his superb new personal best in New York on Saturday night.

Cragg clocked 13 minutes 8.97 seconds when finishing fifth at the Reebok Grand Prix, four quality Kenyans just getting the better of him.

His time, however, was highly satisfying as it improved by almost four seconds his previous best, 13:12.74, clocked just before the Athens Olympics.

It was also over 30 seconds inside the qualifying time for Gothenburg, and puts him closer to Mark Carroll's Irish record, 13:03.93, which looks likely to go when Cragg gets into the bigger Grand Prix races in Europe.

For now he is the fastest European this year, with no one else even close.

Kenya's Abraham Chebii had sat in the leading pack of six runners, which included Cragg, and pulled away in the last 200 metres to take the win in 13:04.56, the fastest 5,000 metres ever run on American soil, over a second than the 13:05.59 posted by Morocco's Said Aouita's when winning gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The New York meeting also saw Meseret Defar of Ethiopia clock a world-record 14:24.53 in the women's 5,000 metres, breaking the mark of 14:24.68 set by Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse in 2004.

At the Uden meeting in Holland, Kilkenny's Joanne Cuddihy again improved her 400-metre best with a winning time of 52.40, while Galway's Paul Hession, just back from injury, made a fabulous start to the season with a close second in the 200 metres in 20.98 and a third in the 100 metres in 10.52.

Michelle Carey had a busy night winning the 400 metres hurdles in an excellent 57.49 and running the flat 400 in 54.11 for fifth place.

In Zaragoza, David Gillick made his seasonal debut and finished third in the 400m in 47.03. High winds militated against fast times, so substantial improvement is expected next time out.

Deirdre Ryan was seventh in the high jump with 1.79 metres.

Finally, at the Flanders meeting in Belgium, Sinéad Delahunty Evans won the 1,500 metres in a fast 4:10.11, well inside the European qualifying standard.