ATHLETICS: Paul Hession took an excellent second place over 200 metres at the Bislett Games in Oslo last night, the latest stop on the IAAF Golden League. Running in a high-quality field, Hession clocked 20.48 seconds, short of his 20.30 Irish record, but a fine start to the season, writes Ian O'Riordan.
Victory went to Brendan Christian of Antigua in 20.39, with the Jamaican Clement Campbell third in 20.58, but Hession, running in lane three, is clearly ready for a big summer.
The famous Bislett track produced the almost obligatory world record when Tirunesh Dibaba ran a stunning 14:11.15 for 5,000 metres - knocking some five seconds off the previous record of compatriot Meseret Defer.
Earlier, James Nolan had a disappointing run in the 1,500 metres, managing only 10th in 3:44.48.
Paul McKee ran a season best of 46.63 in 400 metres B-race, taking third, while in the A-race American Jeremy Wariner ran a superb 43.98.
Elsewhere, Derval O'Rourke's took third place in her opening race of the season over 100 metre hurdles in Kessel, Germany, clocking a satisfying 12.99 seconds. Victory there went to Carolyn Nytra of Germany in 12.90.
"I was saying to myself if I broke 13 seconds I'd be happy," she said. "The race was a bit rocky at times and I made a few mistakes. I'm coming off a lot of hard training, and know I can improve quite a bit over the coming weeks.
In Turin, Thomas Chamney clocked 1:48.30 over 800 metres, still some way short of the Olympic A-standard of 1:46.00.
Twice world 10,000 metres champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia shattered the world women's 5,000 record when she clocked 14 minutes 11.15 seconds at the Bislett stadium last night.
Dibaba broke the previous mark of 14:16.63 set by her compatriot Meseret Defar at the same stadium on June 15 last year.
EQUESTRIAN SPORTS: Jessica Kürten has been suspended from competition by the Federation Equestre International and last night the worlds number two rider was withdrawn from the Gelderland show in The Netherlands by Horse Sport Ireland, writes Margie McLoone.
On Thursday, Kürten lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the FEI's decision to suspend her for two months from today as a result of a medication case involving her former mount Castle Forbes Maike at La Baule last year.
As part of her submission, the Germany-based rider sought a stay on her suspension pending a decision on her appeal.
Having written to the FEI regarding this point, the CAS is seeking a response from it before 2pm on Monday and only then will the Court make an order regarding Kürten's request for a stay.
The rider could not be contacted for a comment.
Meanwhile, the two Irish riders competing at the dressage World Cup show in Lipica, Slovenia have started well with Anna Merveldt finishing third on a score of 67.625 per cent in yesterday's Grand Prix with Coryolano.
Merveldt and James Connors's 11-year-old Coriolan gelding fared best of the 31 competitors with Slovenian Maja Stukelj at E but the combined marks of the five judges saw Austria's Christian Schumach come out best with Auheim's da Vinci 38 (68.792).
GAELIC GAMES: The GAA has announced the appointment of Lisa Clancy as director of communications, a role expanded to include both internal and external communications, writes Seán Moran. She will take over from retiring PRO Danny Lynch in August although he will remain in Croke Park until September.
Ms Clancy is currently Head of Corporate Communications for the Health Service Executive (HSE).
RUGBY: Leicester have sacked head coach Marcelo Loffreda after just one season in charge. The former Argentina coach was only appointed in April last year but, despite leading the Tigers to the Guinness Premiership final at the end of last month, the club finished the season without a trophy.
"The board of Leicester Tigers has come to this decision after conducting its review of the playing season and in assessing what we believe is required to achieve the club's aspirations for the future," said chairman Peter Tom. " . . . our decision has been taken with a degree of sadness. But we have taken this course of action in the best interests of the club and we felt this had to be done now to allow everyone to prepare fully to meet the challenges of the new season.
"On behalf of the club, the board would like to wish Marcelo and his family well for the future. No decision has been made on a new appointment . . ."
BOXING: Floyd Mayweather Jr, widely considered boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, has announced his retirement.
"I have decided to permanently retire from boxing," the 31-year-old said in a statement."This decision was not an easy one for me to make, because boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport."
ATHLETICS: Justin Gatlin's hopes of defending his Olympic 100 metres title in Beijing this August have been dashed after his appeal against a doping ban was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The 26-year-old had appealed to CAS against a four-year ban for doping violations during a two-day hearing before a three-man panel in New York last week. CAS released their verdict in Lausanne yesterday, also rejecting an appeal from athletics' world governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to impose a life ban on Gatlin.
MOTOR CYCLING: TT legend John McGuinness reclaimed his "King of the Mountain" tag in style, seeing off Australian Cameron Donald to grab the Senior TT crown. The 14-time TT winner took advantage of Donald's mechanical problems on the last lap to win by more than 50 seconds.
