ATHLETICS:AROUND 4PM yesterday a starter's pistol and bursts of cheering could be heard coming from inside the Bird's Nest, the iconic structure of Beijing's Olympic Green. This, presumably, was one last practice session for the real deal, as no track and field athlete should be near Beijing at the moment.

Most are off somewhere cleaner, quieter, and the Irish team is no exception. Since last Friday, all 16 of them - plus coaches, managers and physios - have been based in Matsue in Japan, about a two-hour flight further east, and the first group won't go to Beijing until next Tuesday.

Matsue is their "holding camp", and the news from there yesterday was a little more upbeat than when they arrived last Friday. The four athletes that travelled with injuries are over the worst of them, and all four should compete.

"Things have gone extremely well since we got here," says team manager Patsy McGonagle. "Being so familiar with the place is the big factor, having been here before the World Championships in Osaka last summer. The mood is very, very good and if anything improving all the time."

Here's why: Eileen O'Keeffe is back doing practice throws in the hammer, with her knee cartilage injury largely contained for the time being; Alistair Cragg is back to normal training following an Achilles tendon strain, and will have one of his last track sessions today; and Derval O'Rourke appears to be over her adductor muscle tear, and back for her challenge in the 100 metre hurdles.

Best of all, Joanne Cuddihy, who had been unable to train properly for weeks with a calf muscle strain, is back doing strides, and intent on making the start line in the heats of the 400 metres.

With the track and field events not starting until tomorrow week, McGonagle sounded hugely satisfied the decision to stay away from Beijing as long as possible was the right one: "There's almost a chilled-out feel here, which is what we wanted. No stress, no strain . . . it's interesting a lot of other European countries have decided to stay out here as well."

This means, obviously, none of the Irish track and field athletes will partake in tomorrow's opening ceremony, famously set for 8:08pm on the 08/08/08 (clearly a lucky number in China; 16,400 Beijing couples have also applied to have their marriages registered on the day).

While the Irish athletes will start arriving from next Tuesday, the long wait will continue for Martin Fagan, right up until the last day, Sunday, August 24th - as he competes in the final event of all, the men's marathon. Plus, there is the issue of running 26.2 miles in the horrendous smog.

Fagan's long, hard road for qualification has been well aired - US visa problems, injury etc - and when he appeared to have recovered from injury there was more to come: "For a while after I qualified, in Dubai, I was pretty banged up," he says. "But I was so excited to get back running, with the Olympics, I ended up getting another stress fracture in the back."

Fagan has no real complaints about the wait, or the smog: "It does take a little away from the Olympic experience, as I imagined. I'll just have to sit inside the whole time, watch it on TV. I think some of the smog situation is being exaggerated a little, but then running 26 miles in it can't be good for the body. I don't mind the heat, living in Arizona. And I'm just glad to be there running, after all I've been through."

Some athletes would prefer to be in the opening ceremony, including Jamaica's 100-metre world record holder Usain Bolt. The Jamaicans are training two hours outside Beijing in their own camp, with 100 police for a team of 50 athletes, but Bolt was hoping to get back for the ceremony. "I want to see the fireworks," says Bolt. "This is China, man."