Cuddihy goes down fighting

ATHLETICS:With Joanne Cuddihy practically crawling into the mixed zone, aware of her fourth-place finish in last night's 400-metre semi-finals but not yet of her time, it didn't appear she would make the last few steps so we could relay the news.

"50.73 - Irish record," we shouted, and with that she fell into the arms of the Irish team doctor Bill Cuddihy, who, of course, doubles as her father.

It was a massive effort from the 23-year-old Kilkenny athlete, running in her first world championships, and improving the 51.07 seconds that had stood to Karen Shinkins for eight years.

Jamaica's Novlene Williams took the win in 49.66, just ahead of Mexico's former champion Ana Guevara.

By finishing fourth in such a quality field - with the top two plus the two fastest times progressing - she'd given herself every chance of making the final. With two more semi-finals to come the nervous wait began.

"Delighted, yeah," she told us, slowly regaining her breath. "I would have been gutted if I didn't get the record. I knew I had it in me. Even though it's a sprint, the 400 metres is quite tactical in some ways, because you have to run the right rhythm, not go too quick, and not let the occasion get to you. It's a tough balance to find.

"But coming into the straight I couldn't believe how few people were in front of me. I knew my legs were going okay, and I hadn't come this far to go the last straight without pushing myself. And I was delighted with fourth. I mean I wouldn't have put money on myself to get fourth."

Then came the result of the second semi-final, won by the Britain's Nicola Saunders in a superb 49.77, with the American champion Dee Dee Trotter third in 50.31, edging Cuddihy out. She ended up 11th fastest, with eight going through.

"Oh yeah?" she responded. "Ah sure, right now, to be honest, I don't know if I could run another race. But no, give me half an hour and I'll be disappointed.

"I was within touching distance of a place in the final, and the level here is pretty much the exact same as the Olympics. I'll get so much more confidence out of this, and if I come back stronger next year, then there's no reason why I can't get in there."

For Derval O'Rourke, the first concern was the heat - as in both a difficult qualifying round and the scorching temperatures. As if there weren't enough barriers in the 100-metre hurdles.

She handled both yesterday morning - though not without some difficulty - and while it may be slightly cooler inside the Nagai Stadium this evening when she goes in the second of two semi-finals, the competition heats up significantly.

Effectively she'll have to repeat her 12.72 silver-medal performance at last summer's European championships just to make tomorrow's final. Drawn on the inside lane - just like in Gothenburg - and with all seven of her opponents notably quicker than her season's best of 12.88 seconds, it seems she will need nothing less than an Irish record to get through.

"It's bloody roasting out there," she told us in the mixed zone, and sure enough, the ice baths put on for the athletes were tempting. "And for a white, freckled, Irish girl? I was hiding under towels, and it was torture for me. And then on the blocks I felt very, very hot. But this is the worst time of the day."

Her race went off just after 10am, when the temperature was already 33 Celsius in the shade. Just sitting in the stands we became human water fountains. Among those she had to contend with was the defending champion, Michelle Perry, of the US, who won in 12.72, and O'Rourke needed to run strong to take fourth in 12.91 - her second-fastest time this year.

The top three qualified automatically, but she went through as one of the four fastest losers.

"I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't go through automatically. That was the aim. But 12.91, at 10 in the morning, is still moving. I'm s*** in the mornings. Up at six, that kind of thing. But it was about surviving the first round, which is always the most nerve-wracking.

"I ran 13.1 in the first round at the Europeans last year. I mean that's the quickest I ever started in a championship. It was an okay run, but I was a little sleepy and just didn't feel as sharp as I wanted. But now I can start looking at the final, and that's been what it's all about. It has been coming together for me, and from now it's just put the head down, run like hell.

"It's top four in the semi-final, and if I can run my best on the night I'm through, that's the way I'm looking at it. I still have the faith, which I never really lost anyway."

Things had cooled off a little yesterday evening for the final of the 3,000 metres steeplechase, which contained the rare sight of two Irish finalists in Róisín McGettigan and Fionnuala Britton - and they ran as well as expected. McGettigan finished 10th in 9:39.80, having held seventh place with four laps remaining, with Britton two places back in 9:48.09.

They were fine efforts in a race dominated by the Russian Yekaterina Volkova, who won gold in a championship record 9:06.57, although McGettigan made every effort to stay with her.

"I was thinking why not go for it, get stuck in. I don't think aiming high is a bad thing. I'm a little disappointed I didn't finish as high as I wanted to.

"Of course if you told me last week I would have taken 10th, but right now I would have liked more.

"It's still a nice stepping-stone, and next year I'll be ready for that Olympic final. It was quite fast, and I can make more progress, can work on some weaknesses. It's given me great encouragement."

Michelle Carey completed the Irish interest yesterday with a slightly disappointing eighth place in her heat of the 400-metre hurdles, though her time of 57.10 was still respectable.

Of definite concern in the Irish camp is that David Campbell is suffering from a bad stomach complaint though he is still hopeful of competing in Thursday's 800-metre heats.

MEN

10,000 metres final: 1 K Bekele (Eth) 27mins 05.90secs, 2 S Sihine (Eth) 27:09.03, 3 M Irungu Mathathi (Ken) 27:12.17.

Hammer throw final: 1 I Tsikhan (Blr) 83.63m, 2 P Kozmus (Slo) 82.29, 3 L Charfreitag (Svk) 81.60.

Triple jump final: 1 N Evora (Por) 17.74m, 2 J Gregrio (Bra) 17.59, 3 W Davis (USA) 17.33.

WOMEN

100 metres final: 1 V Campbell (Jam) 11.01secs, 2 L Williams (USA) 11.01, 3 C Jeter (USA) 11.02.

400 metres semi-final heat 1: 1 N Williams (Jam) 49.66secs, 2 A Guevara (Mex) 50.19, 3 I Usovich (Blr) 50.31, 4 J Cuddihy (Irl) 50.73 (did not qualify).

3,000 metres steeplechase final: 1 Y Volkova (Rus) 9mins 06.57secs, 2 T Petrova (Rus) 9:09.19, 3 E Jepkorir (Ken) 9:20.09. Irish placings: 10 R McGettigan (Irl) 9:39.80, 12 F Britton (Irl) 9:48.09.

100 metres hurdles heat 1: 1 M Perry (USA) 12.72secs, 2 S McLellan (Aus) 12.85, 3 A Lamalle (Fra) 12.88. Irish placings: 4 Derval O'Rourke (Irl) 12.91 (qualified as fastest loser).

400 metres hurdles heat 3: 1 T Tereschuk-Antipova (Ukr) 54.74secs, 2 M Walker (Jam) 55.40, 3 F Halki (Gre) 55.66. Irish placing: 8 Michelle Carey (Irl) 57.10.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

(All times Irish)

2:10am: Men's 400m first round (David Gillick).

3:10am: Men's 200m first round (Paul Hession).

3:25am: Women's hammer (Eileen O'Keeffe).

11:30am: Women's pole vault final.

11:30am: Men's discus final.

11:35am: Women's 100m hurdles semi-final (Derval O'Rourke).

12:10pm: Men's 200m second round.

12:50pm: Women's long jump final.

12:55pm: Men's 3,000m steeplechase final.

1:20pm: Women's 800m final.

1:40pm: Women's 400m hurdles semi-final.

2:20pm: Men's 400m hurdles final.