ATHLETICS:IT'S PROBABLY fair to assume that those accusing the Irish athletes of Olympic mediocrity weren't down in the drenching wet Bird's Nest yesterday morning. But then there were no medals won, and certainly not a note of Olé, Olé, Olé.

Before Beijing, Ireland's glowing athletics tradition had produced exactly 16 top-eight finishes - the top eight being traditionally the standard measure of success - starting with Pat O'Callaghan's hammer win in 1928. These were achieved in 10 separate Olympiads, which means in seven other Olympiads since 1928, Ireland fell short.

Here in Beijing yesterday morning, Olive Loughnane produced Ireland's second top-eight finish of these Olympics, arriving, soaked to the skin, at the stadium seventh in the 20-kilometre walk.

Last Saturday, Robert Heffernan had finished eighth in the men's equivalent, soaked in sweat, and while many consider race-walking the silly, or at least the unglamorous, side of track-and-field athletics, the effort is nonetheless extreme.

Perhaps things aren't as bad as the prophets of doom are suggesting after all. Alistair Cragg making tomorrow's final of the 5,000 metres has already made him Ireland's first male athlete to run in successive Olympic finals since John Treacy.

Paul Hession missing the final of the 200 metres by one place, one metre, one stride was still our best ever Olympic sprint performance. Róisín McGettigan making her steeplechase final can't be discounted simply because she struggled after getting there.

And what if Derval O'Rourke, Eileen O'Keeffe and Joanne Cuddihy hadn't got injured in the run-up to Beijing?

There have been some disappointments and David Gillick won't need any reminding of that, yet considering Loughnane yesterday beat both her personal best and the old Olympic record by over 90 seconds, maybe she'll at least get some of the credit she deserves. Not that she really cares.

"I'm just doing this to be the very best I can be," she said afterwards. "I'm not doing it for recognition. And there aren't many people who could say they were seventh in the Olympics, and I can. You can criticise or say whatever you want, but no one can take that away from me."

This was a sort of personal quest for the 32-year-old from Loughrea. Just over two years ago she took a break from the sport to give birth to a daughter, Éimear, and it's been a long, hard road back, particularly in regaining the strength and endurance required for a 20-kilometre race.

Now living in Coachford in Cork with husband Martin and daughter, she trains alone and works off her own experience, occasionally turning to Heffernan for advice.

Tactically, she got it all right yesterday, moving through the field in the second half of the race, from 13th at halfway right through to seventh, her 1:27.45 just over a minute behind Russia's young champion Olga Kaniskina, who won gold in 1:26.31 - knocking an astonishing three minutes and 26 seconds off the previous Olympic record.

If it had been a 25-kilometre walk, Loughnane would surely have medalled.

"If you'd told me last night I was going to do 1:27 I'd have said I hope you have flags ready. I'd have said that will make the medals.

"But I had such a rough year last year. I came back well after the baby, but struggled for a while. And finishing 17th at the world championships last year, after the little physical work I'd been able to put in, was actually a really big achievement.

"My blood-iron levels were chronically low and training 60 kilometres a week felt harder than the 120 kilometres I'd done before.

"But I modified my diet and got things right, and struggling with all those things last year made me very, very tough.

"I suppose I didn't care what the weather was like today. When I saw the rain I just smiled, because I was prepared for everything. I'm just very strong, mentally tough."

Norway's Kjersti Platzer, silver medallist in Sydney 2000, finished second with a 36-second deficit on the Russian, while Italy's Elisa Rigaudo took bronze only after a late surge brought her back into medal contention.

Loughnane might well have got into the medals had she closed the gap a little earlier, but there were no regrets.

"What was it, 30 seconds to a medal? I'm a little disappointed, but as long as I couldn't have given any more, and I gave it everything, then I have to be proud.

"I have a great family to go back to now, and I'm so well supported by my family, my husband's family - there are so many people who are so good to me, if felt like there's nothing at stake for me, because I have so much going for me and today is a just bonus."