Maher's double ranks as Irish best

When Emily Maher's mother, Frances, listened from Kilkenny to Ireland's national anthem from the Olympic Stadium in Moscow over a mobile phone, she experienced from afar part of what must now rank as the best Irish achievement in junior athletics.

Her daughter, 17-year-old Emily, followed on from her 100 metres gold medal win on Wednesday to claim the gold medal yesterday in the 200 metres final of the World Youth Olympics.

The Kilkenny girl once again beat the field in the 1980 Olympic Stadium in a time of 24.16 seconds, a personal best and almost half a second faster than her 1997 best of 24.65. Michelle Carroll still holds both the junior and senior Irish record of 23.51, which was set 20 years ago.

Maher's double gold ranks her as one of Ireland's outstanding prospects for the Olympic games of 2004 in Athens.

Drawn in lane five, the Irish girl attacked the bend to enter the straight in front then held on to her lead to win by 100th of a second.

"She was totally exhausted both physically and mentally afterwards," said her coach Gerry Burke. "She was fastest in her heat of the semi-final and around second or third fastest of all the qualifiers. But we had agreed that all we wanted was to get through to the final and that worked perfectly.

"All she could say afterwards was, `It went brilliant'. When she'd finished she was totally overcome, totally exhausted. She needed a lot of water."

The teenager's next assignment will be in France in two weeks' time, when she will represent Ireland at the World Junior Championships.

Meanwhile, the former minister for sport Bernard Allen of Fine Gael gave the Irish Sports Council his support in the controversy surrounding the shortfall in funding which resulted in no official Irish team being sent to the games. But Fianna Fail TD Liam Aylward has criticised Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey for his timing in raising the matter.

The OCI have been highly critical of the Sports Council's refusal to fund the £147,000 necessary to send a full team and officials to Moscow, saying it was a "great shame" and it "tarnished" Ireland's image abroad. Emily Maher and five other athletes were funded by the Russian government.

"The amount they were looking for, £147,000, is fairly substantial money. I would have full confidence in the judgement of the Irish Sports Council," Mr Allen said yesterday.

"If £50,000 was offered by the Sports Council, the OCI should have accepted and then possibly have sought private funding. Just refusing to send a team smacks of high-noon confrontation."

"We had ongoing problems with the OCI. Certainly the decision to fund sports bodies directly and in accordance with the national strategy has reduced the OCI's role in Irish sport."

Aylward said that if Hickey has comments to make or a problem about funding, he should have waited for a more appropriate opportunity to raise the matter.

"Pat Hickey has taken away from the great victory of youth Olympics gold winner Emily Maher with his comments about funding," he said.

"Emily is a real champion whose achievements have been diminished by the comments. I hope that in future no athlete finds that their victory or effort is somehow diminished or tarnished because the occasion is used to make a political point.

"Mr Hickey has once again used this opportunity to snipe at the Government. I think that reflects badly on Mr Hickey - and is a shame at a time when we should all be celebrating a truly historic gold medal victory."

An OCI spokesman rejected the criticisms. "The OCI were not prepared to send a reduced team because many of the sports that were supposed to be developed were not getting a look-in. The Government didn't offer enough funds to send a full team

"The £275,000 reserves that the OCI have are in case we need to send a team to Sydney in the event of the Government not providing funds or in case of any litigation against the Olympic Council. It would not be prudent to spend that money on this occasion.

"The OCI's role is to look after the four-year cycle of Olympic Games. The fact that we were handling money on behalf of the minister and that we are not now doing that is not a factor. The fact is that we are looking for a fair share of the money that is available for all 27 Olympic sports, not just one or two high-profile sports."