McKiernan to take on rivals in London

Athletics: Catherina McKiernan was yesterday confirmed as a starter for the three-mile road race in London's Hyde Park on July 16th, writes Peter Byrne. Three other former winners of the London marathon, Tegla Loroupe, Joyce Chepchumba and Malgorzata Sobanska, will also take part.

It will be the first time in several years that McKiernan has raced over this distance, and the exercise is intended to help gauge the extent of her recovery from the injury which kept her out of action earlier in the year.

Tennis: Top seeded Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan failed to reach the main draw of the International Tennis Federation's Futures series at Rathmines yesterday, writes Pat Roche.

Iwabuchi, ranked 249th in the world, made the dash to Dublin from Paris after losing out in the French Open qualifiers, but yesterday he was beaten again, this time by Britain's Oliver Freelove. In a marathon final-qualifying game, the Briton showed unexpected levels of resilience to win 7-6 4-6 7-6.

The defeat of Australian Jaymon Crabb by a player ranked 800 places below him by the ATP, Romanian Robert Nita, was another shock on the day.

Golf: Damian McGrane must know how Padraig Harrington felt a few weeks ago: the Wexford club professional was last night disqualified from the joint-winners position in the St Bernard pro-am tournament at Elm Park for signing for a wrong score.

McGrane and David Walker finished joint top of the leaderboard on four-under-par 65. However, McGrane's caddie and clubs had taken a lift in a buggy belonging to one of the professional's amateur partners during the round, which is against the rules - neither a professional nor his caddie may use a buggy - and carries a four-shot penalty.

McGrane was duly disqualified for signing for a wrong score, and Walker, who carded five birdies in his four-under-par 65, named as outright winner.

Drugs in sport: State prosecutors investigating the case of 1992 Olympic 5,000 metres gold medallist Dieter Baumann said yesterday they had found no evidence that unknown parties injected an illegal drug into his toothpaste.

Baumann, who has tested positive for nandrolone, has maintained that the substance was maliciously injected into his toothpaste. However, a prosecutor said: "We see no basis for continuing an investigation." There is now a greater likelihood that the German Athletics Foundation will suspend Baumann for two years, which would effectively end his athletics career.

Rugby: William B Glynn of Galwegians was elected president of the Connacht branch of the IRFU for the 2000-2001 season at the branch's a.g.m. in Galway on Monday night. Glynn won 15 senior interprovincial caps during his playing career with Galwegians and UCD.