Helsinki spot held open for Gillick

Athletics/Irish Team: Twelve athletes have been named on the Ireland team for the World Athletics Championships, which begin in Helsinki on Saturday week. They represent exactly half the number of actual qualifiers, and with Alistair Cragg and Gillian O'Sullivan ruled out with injury, there aren't any genuine medal aspirants.

What the team does include, however, is several athletes hoping to use the Helsinki experience as a springboard to greater things, none more than David Gillick. Although the European Indoor 400-metre champion continues to be troubled by a lower back injury, Athletics Ireland felt he deserved every opportunity to compete in what is by far the most important athletic event outside the Olympics.

Yet Gillick's inclusion only came about after national champion Tomás Coman declined his place on the team, opting to focus on the World Student Games in Izmir, Turkey later next month.

Like Gillick, Coman holds the B-standard over 400 metres and by winning the national title on Sunday gained automatic selection. Only one B-standard athlete is allowed per event, but Coman felt his current state of fitness fell a little short of what is required for Helsinki.

In the meantime, though, Gillick will still need to prove his fitness if he's to travel. He's planning to test himself at the Dublin International meeting in Santry on Saturday, and if he's still experiencing problems at that stage then he's almost certainly ruled out of the World Championships.

Also looking to prove his fitness in Saturday's meeting is Paul Hession, who has been named in the 200 metres despite also suffering from a lower back injury in recent weeks. Like Gillick, the Galway athlete missed the national championships in Santry and unless his injury problem disappears completely then he, too, is unlikely to travel.

The rest of the team are all reported fit and ready for action - including James Nolan, who was also absent from Santry at the weekend. Nolan decided against competing after sustaining a slight Achilles injury when running 3:37.78 in Heusden in Belgium on Saturday night - his fastest time in two years - but his form still satisfied the selectors.

It is just reward for Nolan, who still has his critics and yet has persisted with the sport despite enduring a rough year - which included the deletion of his grant aid. The Offaly athlete also missed out on the last World Championships in Paris two years ago after being narrowly beaten at the national championships by Gareth Turnbull, who thus gained selection. And incredibly, Nolan provides the only distance running interest on the men's side.

Most of the team have been on the World Championship stage before, including Peter Coghlan (110 metre hurdles), Robert Heffernan (20km walk), Karen Shinkins (400 metres), Derval O'Rourke (100 metre hurdles), Maria McCambridge (5,000 metres) and Olive Loughnane (20km walk).

Marie Davenport was selected to run the 10,000 metres in Paris two years ago but was unable to compete because of sickness. The Clare athlete, who now lives in America, finished a respectable 14th in the Athens Olympics and will be looking for an even better finish in Helsinki.

Rounding off the team are two athletes competing on the world stage for the first time - Eileen O'Keeffe in the hammer, and Roisín McGettigan in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. McGettigan will make Irish athletics history, as the women's steeplechase event is included on the championship programme for the first time.

Sonia O'Sullivan had qualified in both the 5,000 metres and marathon but last week ended her track season prematurely because of a foot injury. It means the 1995 world champion misses her first major championships since 2001, when she was pregnant with her second daughter, Sophie.

Another athlete now definitely not competing in Helsinki is four-time 1,500-metre champion Hicham El Guerrouj. The double Olympic gold medallist from Athens yesterday informed his Moroccan federation that he hasn't been able to regain his normal fitness levels for a variety of reasons, and will thus by-pass the entire season.

It means the 31-year-old El Guerrouj misses the World Championships for the first time since 1995, when he made his debut in Gothenburg and came away with the silver medal. He subsequently collected 1,500-metre gold in Athens, Seville, Edmonton, and Paris.

"I am sad and bitter to be absent for the first time from the World Championships," he said. "My preparations had gone well until the end of June and I had aspirations at 5000 metres in Helsinki."

El Guerrouj, however, hasn't raced since winning the 1,500-5,000 metre double in Athens, and his withdrawal guarantees at least one new world champion in Helsinki.

MEN

200m: Paul Hession (Athenry AC); 400m: David Gillick (Dundrum South Dublin); 1,500m: James Nolan (UCD); 110m hurdles: Peter Coghlan (Crusaders); 20km walk: Robert Heffernan (Togher AC).

WOMEN

400m: Karen Shinkins (Dublin City Harriers); 5,000m: Maria McCambridge (Dundrum South Dublin); 10,000m: Marie Davenport (Marian AC); 100m hurdles: Derval O'Rourke (Leevale AC); 3,000 metres steeplechase: Roisín McGettigan (Slí Cualann AC); 20km walk: Olive Loughnane (Loughrea AC); Hammer: Eileen O'Keeffe (Kilkenny City Harriers).