O'Dwyer rises to his biggest challenge

Athletics World Indoor ChampionshipsThe sole green vest of high jumper Adrian O'Dwyer arrived as the only Irish interest in the field events in Budapest, but it didn't take long to get noticed.

With a remarkably composed series of jumps O'Dwyer landed himself a place in this afternoon's final, becoming the first Irish field-event athlete to progress that far at World Indoor level.

It was close in the end but truly deserved for the gifted 20-year-old from Kilkenny, whose lack of proper training facilities is a whole other story.

Passing the opening height of 2.15 metres, he then cleared 2.20 on the second attempt, before passing again on 2.24. That brought on huge pressure to clear 2.27, just a centimetre short of the Irish record he shares with Brendan Reilly.

Although failing twice, he then cleared 2.27 with room to spare. Only eight others also cleared that height and so all nine progressed to the final, led by two-time defending champion Stefan Holm.

"I did make it bloody difficult on myself," he admitted. "But I knew I had a 2.27 in me. I just wanted to take the least amount of time to do it. Thankfully it got me into the final and I'll be chasing 2.30 there. I need that to get the sort of financial backing I need to be truly world class."

You could blame it on a slow track or maybe it was the early-morning starts but it seemed most of the Irish sprinters on show earlier yesterday never hit top gear. Karen Shinkins in particular had probably her worst ever experience on the world stage.

As reigning European Indoor bronze medallist, Shinkins went into her 400-metre heat with both the confidence and experience to think semi-final qualification was well within her reach. Instead she finished a wearied and disconsolate last.

And that time, 54.37 seconds, was so far outside her best, 51.58, that no one around her could remember when she'd competed so poorly. She'd run flat out to get herself in contention, stealing third place at the break from the first lap, but from there she went backwards.

"Not much to say about that," she admitted after. "I was digging, but there was nothing coming out. The second half was like a real drain. I felt the form was quite good coming out here from the US last week, but that's so disappointing. Maybe it was the travel or being so anxious to do well. I don't know."

In the end only two athletes across the four heats had run slower. Joanne Cuddihy had gone in the first heat and at aged 19 was primarily concerned about getting the experience, and though she also finished sixth her 54.02 was a little closer to her best of 53.49.

First of the Irish on track had been Gary Ryan, running under distance in the 60 metres. Just three days previously he had arrived back from winter training in Australia, and clearly his body clock was still some way out of tick.

A false start acted as a sort of final wake-up call and he got out well second time, but on the line he could manage no better than fifth in 6.83 seconds. Yet he probably could have run on at that pace for another 140 metres.

"Well I'm glad I stayed awake during it," said Ryan, clearly focusing on the positive.

"I was hoping I might get the national record, and that might have got me through. But the 60 metres just wasn't something I was building for. That was my first one in over a year. But I know I'm in the shape of my life. I just need to put it all together."

Against most expectations the finest Irish track performance on day one is found in a multi-lap race. As the first of only two middle-distance prospects Maria McCambridge slipped almost anonymously into the 3,000 metres heats and ended up booking a place in tomorrow's final with a display of real class.

It will go down as a revelation on a few counts, most of all because in recent years McCambridge has generally found her running career going in the wrong direction. Indoor 3,000-metre running wouldn't be considered her speciality either but in taking third in eight minutes 59.11 seconds she wiped away previous disappointments at world level.

From the start of the opening session in Budapest it was clear qualification in any event was going to be hard to find. The Irish sprinters that form the majority of the team proved that. Yet McCambridge made it look easy, and it followed the only other rewarding Irish performance on the track when David McCarthy battled a good deal harder to make today's 400-metre semi-finals.

For the 28-year-old McCambridge the indoor season has already shaped up nicely as one to remember. She arrived here with an improved best of 8:56.48 and rising confidence, the result of a quite drastic change to her training, where high quantity went out the window and was replaced by pure quality - partly designed by her marathon-runner husband Gary Crossan.

Going in the second heat, she moved calmly to the rear of the field and waited, running sweetly along close to the kerb and smartly avoiding the threat of an unwanted shoulder.

With four laps remaining British hope Joanne Pavey burst to the front to press the pace, and McCambridge responded with remarkable composure. She went into second with two laps left and from there on qualification looked certain.

The Ethiopian Meseret Defar finished fastest of the lot to win in 8:57.39 but the Dublin athlete was always safe in third. The first four were automatic qualifiers, along with the next four best times from the two heats.

"At least there's no waiting around to find out if I made it," she said. "But I felt good, really good. And always comfortable. I was happy when Pavey made the move, and I had been working on my speed over the last few weeks. Hopefully now there'll be a bit more left in the tank come Sunday."

Winning the first heat was defending champion Berhane Adere of Ethiopia, who clocked the notably more impressive 8:49.76. Others in that race, like Spain's Marta Dominguez and the Russian Yelena Zadorozhnaya, will also have medals on their mind in tomorrow's final (4.40 Irish time).

McCambridge can be thinking about finishing in the top half of the field, and in the absence of a certain Sonia O'Sullivan that'll still maintain the strong Irish presence in the event.

By 1 p.m. today McCarthy will know he if he too will have a final say in Budapest.

On yesterday's show the Celbridge athlete has every chance of making that final, just like he did a year ago in Birmingham at the age of only 19. Now that year older and wiser, he probably has more in his legs than the 46.94 he clocked when taking fourth place in the fourth of five heats.

That time was enough to see him through as the last of the fastest losers in what was clearly the most competitive heat.

The final heat, which contained his team-mate Rob Daly, was won in 46.76 by Alleyne Francique and suddenly it seemed either Daly or McCarthy would progress. Daly ended up third in 47.42, visibly tiring on the home stretch.

Sadly for Daly, his 47.42 saw him miss out on the semi-finals by just two places. But that's the close shave between success and failure at these championships, something that James Nolan has already made clear will be his motivation going into today's heats of the 1,500 metres.

Both 60 metre finals went as expected, with Britain's Jason Gardener taking the men's title in 6.49 seconds, ahead of the American Shawn Crawford (6.52) and the Greek Yeoryios Theodoridis (6.54).

At 37, Gail Devers won back the women's title after seven years in 7.09 seconds, edging out Kim Geveart of Belgium and staying on course for the double - 60 metres and 60-metre hurdles.

(All times Irish)

SATURDAY

(Selected events)

10:0 Women 200m Heats; 10:30 Men 200m Heats; 11:20 Women 400m Semi-final; 11:50 Men 400m Semi-final; 15:20 Women 800m Semi-final; 15:35 Women Pole Vault final; 15:40 Men 800m Semi-final; 16:0 Men 1500m Semi-final; 16:50 Women 400m Final; 17:0 Men 400m Final; 17:10 Women 200m Semi-final; 17:15 Men High Jump Final; 17:40 Men 200m Semi-final; 18:10 Women 1500m Final; 18:20 Men 60m Hurdles Final; 18:45 Men 3000m Final.

SUNDAY

14:15 Women Long Jump Final; 14:25 Men Pole Vault Final; 14:55 Women 200m Final; 15:10 Men 200m Final; 15:45 Women 800m Final; 16:0 Men 800m Final; 16:40 Women 3000m Final; 17:0 Men 1500m Final; 17:20 Women 4x400m Relay Final; 17:40 Men 4x400m Relay Final.

Gary Ryan - 60 metres heat, sixth, 6.83 (failed to qualify)

David McCarthy - 400 metre heat, fourth, 46.94 (progressed to semi-final as fastest loser).

Rob Daly - 400 metre heat, third, 47.42, (failed to qualify).

Adrian O'Dwyer - High jump qualification, ninth, 2.27 metres (automatic progression to final).

Karen Shinkins - 400 metre heat, sixth 54.37 (failed to qualify).

Joanne Cuddihy - 400 metre heat, sixth, 54.02 (failed to qualify).

Maria McCambridge - 3,000 metre heat, third 8:57.39 (automatic progression to final).