O'Rourke to miss World indoors

ATHLETICS NEWS:SHE DIDN'T exactly blame it on the weather, but one has to wonder if Derval O'Rourke wasn't forced to train in sub-zero temperatures this week then she might not have been forced out of next weekend's World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar.

It was Monday night, while doing a hurdles session outdoors in freezing Santry Stadium, that O’Rourke picked up the injury which has ended her medal aspirations in the 60 metres hurdles.

Despite several sessions of physio, and a couple of days rest, O’Rourke made the decision to withdraw yesterday, having consulted her coach, Seán Cahill. She sustained a minor tear at the top of her hamstring, and while a cortisone injection may have got her through the championships, it may also have jeopardised her outdoor season, if anything further went wrong. Given her main target remains July’s European Championships, together they decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

“The fact is there is nobody running exceptionally well in the 60 metres hurdles this season,” said Cahill, “and the way Derval was going, she was definitely in with a very good chance of doing well in Doha. She’s devastated to have to pull out, obviously.

“The other disappointing thing is that she’s fine on the flat, and could run sprints all day, but once she goes over a hurdle the pain becomes a real problem. And that just makes it too much of a risk.”

O’Rourke’s injury also shows up our enduring lack of a proper indoor training facility, one of the main benefits of which is reducing the risk of injury, as sprinters are always far more prone to straining muscles when cold.

O’Rourke had also being coming into the right shape at the right time, running a season’s best of 8.0 seconds last Saturday in Flora, Norway, and was due to have her final race over the hurdles in France this evening.

Ireland will still send a strong team of 14 athletes to Doha, with David Gillick very much in contention for a medal over 400 metres, despite racing just once this year.

There was far more encouraging news yesterday for two Irish athletes training in the Australia summer, as Mary Cullen and Joanne Cuddihy delivered impressive performances at the Melbourne Track Classic to qualify for the European Championships in the process.

Cullen won the 5,000 metres in 15.27.75, and although that was some 10 seconds outside her best, was excellent running in the 25-degree heat. “You forget how hard 5k can be. I’m not used to this heat I don’t think either, it’s very warm. But I’ll take it, it’s a nice opener for definite,” she said.

Cuddihy has been based in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport since October, and Melbourne marked her first 400 metres since Beijing, so finishing third in 52.95 seconds was plenty satisfying: “Training has been going really well, especially since Christmas, so I think I can definitely run faster than that in the near future,” she said.

Also in action in Melbourne was David Campbell, who finished 12th in a tactical 1,500 metres in 3:48.80.

Meanwhile, after 17 years the National Inter-Club Cross Country championships return to the Phoenix Park this Sunday. Hosts Donore Harriers may still boast the greatest record in the event, but it will be old rivals Clonliffe who will be leading the race for honours this time, at least on the men’s front, as Mark Kenneally looks set to underline his dominance this season by collecting his first individual title.