Gillick and O'Rourke left cursing their luck

Athletics/ Cork City Sports: It's not often athletics reportage requires some censorship, but the first words out of David Gillick and Derval O'Rourke at Saturday's Cork City Sports had to be cut. Hardly surprising given the two headline acts at the event had costly disagreements with the starter's gun.

So after three consecutive Irish victories on the track, a false start for Gillick, a dodgy start for O'Rourke, and in the end another wind-ruined record for Paul Hession left a certain amount of anti-climax in the Mardyke air.

With the World Championships in Osaka still eight weeks away, neither Gillick nor O'Rourke should be too worried about what happened on Saturday afternoon.

Yet Gillick looked horrified when his false start in the 400 metres resulted in automatic disqualification, and O'Rourke looked stunned when only taking third in the 100-metre hurdles. Both have been left with plenty to meditate on.

O'Rourke's failure to win was the more difficult to take, given she is the local star and was especially determined to record a first ever win at the event. Instead it was England's Sarah Claxton who took the honour in 13:04 seconds, just ahead of Nigeria's Toyin Augustus, with O'Rourke third in 13.13 - well short of her 12.72 best.

"I was still on my marks, rising, and the gun went," explained O'Rourke. "So my position was all over the place after that. It was like the others were gone about two metres, so there's not much you can do about that.

"Maybe it was my own fault, and the fact that David got disqualified in the 400 should have told me the starter wasn't quite on it. But it's very disappointing, and I'm very annoyed."

O'Rourke admitted it will be harder now for her to get a lane in the bigger races before Osaka, given her best this year remains 13 seconds even.

"It's hard to know what to take out of that," she mused. "I ran 13 dead in Finland last weekend, and it was so easy. I was ready to go a lot quicker here, and then take two weeks off. So I'm not sure yet of my next race."

"I knew it was me," said Gillick, when finished with the expletives. "That's the first time I've ever false started. Ever. It's such a pity. I had a cold last weekend, and didn't run well. I stayed at home all this week to rest up, because I wanted to run well here. So I'm raging really.

"I'll try to take some positive out of it, maybe learn from it."

Gillick's frustration was heightened when the 400 was won in a modest 46:44 by Trinidad's Ato Motibo.

The Dubliner got himself a lane in the 200 metres as consolation for what had happened in the 400 metres, but his fifth-place finish there, in 21.12, was just as forgettable.

He will race in Zagreb on Friday, and then at the Rome Golden League a week later, but his confidence will have taken a bit of a shaking here.

No such problems for Hession, who it seems is getting faster with every race. He won the 200 metres in 20.43 - which for the second time this season eclipsed Paul Brizzel's Irish record, 20.54.

Unfortunately the following wind of 4.7 metres per second was more than twice the legal limit, leaving Hession to take more satisfaction from beating the Jamaican Clement Campbell.

"Yeah, the more important thing was to win," he said. "I had perfect conditions last weekend and got the 100 metres record, so the plans are very much on track for the World championships.

"I'm still delighted with the run, because the wind is actually in your face for the bend, against you for 70 metres. In reality that's worth the same time in still conditions.

"And winning in Cork is brilliant, even sweeter than last year. It's a great meet, and our only chance to run in front of an Irish crowd. That's a great feeling, and it's a pity there aren't more days like it."

Also sharing that winning feeling was Joanne Cuddihy, who once again looked the part over 400 metres, her time of 52.26 enough to hold off Guyana's Aliann Pompey. In only her second race of the season the improvement was evident and Cuddihy now looks certain to claim Karen Shinkins's national record of 51.07.

"I felt strong in the last 50 metres, having really suffered in the last 50 metres of my first race," she said.

"So to have felt so strong over the last 50 gives me great hope now for the rest of the season. It was more of a race than a time. The whole season is on my mind, not just the record. I'm confident it will come in time."

Dave Campbell outsprinted the elite Kenyan Laban Rotich to win the 1,500 metres in 3:42.20. And Sligo's Mary Cullen won the 3,000 metres in 9:12.59, over three seconds clear of England's Laura Kenney.