ATHLETICS NEWS: TWO OF Ireland's most talented young athletes, Rose Ann Galligan and Kelly Proper, both finished a creditable sixth in their respective finals of the European Under-23 Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, yesterday, writes Ian O'Riordan.

Proper looked to have broken her own Irish senior long jump record with a leap of 6.58 metres, breaking the mark she set last year of 6.51.

Unfortunately it was marginally wind-assisted and therefore won’t count for record purposes.

Galligan had the fastest time among the qualifiers going into the 1,500 metres final but was caught up in a very tactical race and just did not have the necessary speed for the dash to the line over the final half lap of the event.

The Newbridge runner finished in a time of 4:16.15, with victory going to Sultan Haydar of Turkey did so with a time of 4:14.12.

There was a particularly rewarding time for Thomas Chamney at the EAA Permit meeting in Heusden, Belgium, on Saturday night when he ran almost a full four seconds faster than he ever did before in the 1,500 metres.

In finishing fourth in the race the 25-year-old Crusaders Clubman from Clonmel clocked 3:37.67, a long ways inside his previous best of 3:41.38, a performance which beat the B qualifying standard for the World Championships in Berlin next month.

In fact this is the fastest 1,500 metres by an Irishman in all of two years and marks a significant break-through for Chamney, better known as an 800 metre runner and where he also has the B standard for Berlin.

Deirdre Ryan also achieved the B standard when she won the women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.91 metres, equalling her seasonal best.

She cleared every height first time up to 1.91 to defeat Nicole Forrester of Canada but having had the bar raised to 1.95 incurred three failures.

The meeting marked a return to competition for Derval O’Rourke in the 100 metres hurdles and finishing sixth in a time of 13.18 will at least give the Cork woman momentum as she comes back to full fitness from her groin injury.