ATHLETICS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:NO ONE left the National Track and Field Championships in Santry this weekend more satisfied than Thomas Chamney. He defended his 800 metres title, earned the bonus prize of selection for the World Championship, and at the same time denied his fiercest rival. In no particular order. If anything, beating David Campbell to the title mattered most of all.

It’s a straightforward tale; two athletes, at the top of their game, going head-to-head for glory. What gave the 800 metres some extra punch is that Chamney, back in the starring role, has all the characteristics of a leading man. It’s not just a race, it’s a performance, and the 25-year-old Dubliner, it seems fair to say, doesn’t mind playing up his part.

What is certain is that Chamney and Campbell have the most intense rivalry in Irish athletics. Two years ago Campbell won the title to deny Chamney a place in the World Championships. Last year the role was reversed, when Chamney got to go to the Beijing Olympics. Yesterday, once again, there was nothing between them, but after jogging the first lap and a half, when it came down to the home stretch, Chamney was that bit stronger, winning in 1:49.87 to Campbell’s 1:50.20 – and with that booked his ticket to Berlin in just 12 days’ time.

“Our rivalry goes back a good few years now,” said Chamney “Some people might say there’s a bit of bad blood between us about the Olympic selection last year. He did a lot of talking. I feel that maybe there was an element of him being a sore loser about it. So obviously I was fired up for it. He was fired up for it, because he feels he was wronged last year.

“When it comes down to that passion and emotion, both of us are really going to go at each other, hammer and tongs. Any time we race, I don’t want to lose to him. And he doesn’t want to lose to me. It’s great for the sport, but I don’t always look forward to racing him. It’s nerve wracking. He’s a great competitor. I’ve a lot of respect for him as an athlete.”

Although both athletes have the B-standard for Berlin, only one is permitted to go under IAAF rules. Chamney also has the B-standard over 1,500 metres and looks set for selection in both events, while Campbell looks set to miss out, again.

The 27-year-old from Kilcock, who has an old-school philosophy about the sport, said: “I still feel I could have run the A-standard this year. I want to be at the World Championships. I’m not in this sport to sit at home and watch it on telly.

“I’m in the best shape of my life. Here, when it’s just two boys in the race, it’s playing chess for 700 metres, and then who’s the best 100 metres runner on the day. It kind of skews it a bit. That’s what it came down to, a 100 metres sprint. They may as well have put us in the blocks.”

Chamney, of course, could yet opt for just the 1,500 metres, but that’s unlikely: “I want to run both. The 1,500 metres is first, I’ll take my chances of making it through. The 800 metres is not until a lot later in the week. I think long term the 1,500 metres is where I’m going to be at my best, for London. But I’m still a bit of a novice at the 1,500 metres.”

There was a small measure of compensation for Campbell later in the afternoon when he won a similarly tactical 1,500 metres in 3:51.96, but it’s impossible to see how the Athletics Ireland selectors can accommodate them of both in Berlin. All shall be revealed tomorrow when the team is announced.

Several other athletes effectively rubber-stamped their selection for Berlin on B-standards, by winning the national title, including Deirdre Byrne of Wicklow, who was the class act in the women’s 1,500 metres in 4.25.41, Deirdre Ryan of Dundrum, who won the high jump with a best of 1.83 metres, and fellow Dubliner Michelle Carey, who took the 400 metres hurdles in 57.82.

Alistair Cragg came to Santry as one of the 10 Irish athletes with A-standards for Berlin, but with wildly inconsistent form – having dropped out of races in Lausanne and just last weekend, in London. He duly won his first 5,000 metres title in a fairly pedestrian-looking 13:52.15.

There were more convincing send-offs for Berlin on Saturday when David Gillick moved down distance to win the 200 metres in 21.43, while Olive Loughnane won the 5km walk in 21:03.45 and Rob Heffernan won the 10km walk yesterday in 39.11.72. Eileen O’Keeffe threw a season’s best of 69.91 to win the hammer.

Injuries mount as World Championships loom closer

IT CAN’T be a good sign when several of Ireland’s best athletes were forced to withdraw from action in Santry at the weekend instead of fine-tuning preparations for the World Championships in Berlin in 12 days’ time, although in the case of Paul Hession and Derval O’Rourke, it was purely precautionary, reports Ian O’Riordan. Hession ran the heats of the 100 metres early yesterday, easing home in 11.32 seconds, but felt a minor head cold coming on, and therefore took the wise decision of withdrawing from the final: “I just did not feel well, but I’m not too worried. If the race was on tomorrow I reckon I could have run it. But it just wasn’t worth it, taking a risk so close to Berlin.”

In Hession’s absence, double paralympic champion Jason Smyth took the 100 metres title.

O’Rourke picked up a chest infection while competing in Stockholm on Friday and withdrew from the 100 metre hurdles – but she too is intent on being on the plane for Berlin.

For Martin Fagan, who had an A-standard in the marathon and B-standard over 10,000 metres, the track season is over after he pulled up in Saturday’s 10,000 metres with a tear in his left Achilles.

Maria McCambridge had qualified to run the women’s marathon in Berlin but is another injury casualty, sustaining a gluteus muscle strain in recent weeks, while hopes that Mary Cullen, the European Indoor bronze medallist over 3,000 metres, would return in time for Berlin is also over.

BERLIN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Probable Irish team: Paul Hession (200 metres); David Gillick (400 meters); Thomas Chamney (800/1,500 metres); Alistair Cragg (5,000 metres); Rob Heffernan (20km Walk); Jamie Costin/Colin Griffin (both 50km walk); Deirdre Byrne (1,500 metres); Derval O’Rourke (100 metre hurdles); Michelle Carey (400 metre hurdles); Roisin McGettigan (3,000 metres steeplechase); Olive Loughnane (20km walk); Eileen O’Keeffe (Hammer); Deirdre Ryan (High jump).