Smith aiming for indoor competition

Ireland's 400 metres hurdles European Championship finalist, Susan Smith, has revised her schedule for the coming months and, in a change from her normal practice, hopes to compete indoors with her focus on the the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, next March.

Currently living and training in Atlanta, Georgia, under the guidance of American coach Loren Seagrave, Smith has recovered from the disappointing end to her summer season when fatigue forced her to run well below her best over the distance in Budapest.

Now five pounds lighter than in the summer and in daily contact with her coach, she has also been joined in the Seagrave camp in Atlanta by international sprinting colleague Peter Coughlan. The Dublin-born 110 metres hurdler ran in both Budapest in the European Championships last summer and the World Championships in Athens in 1997.

Smith, however, is currently in some limbo regarding her specific plans over the next several months as a trip to Australia over the winter hinges on whether Donovan Bailey, another of Seagrave's athletes, can recover from a ruptured achilles tendon injury, which is reported to be career threatening. "The ruptured achilles actually rolled up to his calf muscle," said Smith.

If the Australian trip does not materialise, then the Waterford sprinter will concentrate her efforts on the indoor sprints with Japan being the long-term goal.

"I was pretty much devastated at the end of the season and only started back mid October after a six-week break." she said.

" I've lost weight and I'm seeing my coach every day so there's no excuses. Mentally, this way of doing things is a big step up. The coach is there for the good days and the bad days and with Peter Coughlan training with us now, it's good to have another Irish face.

"I was able to run 54.31 seconds by just getting advice over the phone and with no one watching me. So I can't be disappointed being in the top 10 in the world. I'd like to take part in some indoor events and I think I have the qualifying times from outdoors for the indoor World Championships, so hopefully they'll pick me. I'd like to really look towards that event."

In reducing the Irish record in the 100 metres hurdles this summer in Tullamore to 13.12 seconds, Smith has already run the qualifying time for the Indoor Championships. The official mark for outdoors is 13.20 which equates to 8.30 seconds for the equivalent 60 metre distance indoors.

The IAAF have also changed the format of next year's Golden League series outdoors. The organisers have insisted that athletes compete in all of the Golden League meetings, the Golden League final and next August's World Championships in Seville in order to qualify for a share of the big cash prize.

The insistence on including the World Championships has grown from a tendency in recent years by some top athletes to side-step official competitions in favour of preparing themselves for big runs in the Golden League events. Competitors have traditionally been able to earn more money.