MARK MANDY once again equal led his Irish high jump record of 2.25 metres but the British based athlete had to settle for fourth place at the McDonald's Games in Sheffield yesterday. Victory went to the Olympic champion Charles Austin from the United States, who cleared 2.30 metres.

Dublin's T J Kearns went close to his Irish record in the 110 metres hurdles clocking 13.66 seconds but, like Mandy, saw the event go to an American gold medallist. Allen Johnson took the race in 13.23 seconds with Kearns crossing the line in sixth place.

The two Irish women in action in Sheffield both had to settle for third. Susan Smith clocked 56.00 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles, pushing Jamaica's Dion Hemmings all the way but the Carribbean athlete never faltered and won in 55.13, with Belgium's Anne Merken just edging Smith out of second place.

Kilkenny's Sinead Delahunty ran an aggressive 3,000 metres but was beaten by Kenya's Rose Cheruiyot who pushed the pace from the front. Cheruiyot ran nine minutes 2.68 seconds with Delahunty hanging on in the final lap to run 9:04.51.