ATHLETICS:It's hard to say which performance was more significant - Eileen O'Keeffe out there mixing it with the best hammer throwers in the world, or Alistair Cragg tamely exiting the 5,000 metres. What is certain is that Irish athletics is undergoing a metamorphosis and the changes aren't necessarily all good.
For O'Keeffe, the rise to the top is almost complete, her sixth place in the hammer final rekindling what was once one of Ireland's strongest events. She had a brilliantly consistent series of throws, her first-round best of 70.93 metres not unassailably far off the 74.76 that earned Germany's Betty Heidler the gold medal. At 26, the Kilkenny athlete has clearly more to offer.
For Cragg, the once exciting career has reached a low point, the 13th-place finish in his 5,000-metre heat almost unfathomable. His time of 13:59.45, a full 52 seconds outside his best, certainly was.
Hopes that Cragg would carry on Ireland's great distance-running tradition are fading fast, and the reality is there is no one else coming through with the potential for glory. In other words, the strength and depth of Irish athletics right now is in the sprints and technical events, while distance running, particularly on the men's side, is facing into hard times. That still takes a bit of getting used to.
It's not entirely forlorn, and David Campbell wasn't far outside his best in the heats of the 800 metres, especially given he'd spent the last four days with a serious stomach illness. He finished seventh in 1:46.47, at least displaying the fighting spirit that Cragg appeared to have surrendered - and for sure he'll come away from Osaka even stronger.
From an Irish perspective then the night belonged to O'Keeffe. She'd become one of the stories of the championships just by making the final, US television, among others, relaying the story of her brother buying a hammer-throwing video in a pound shop and thus igniting her already remarkable career. She'd arrived in Osaka fresh from taking silver in the World University Games, and while a medal here was beyond her, no one should rule one out in the future.
"It's been a magical year," she said, "and gives me a lot of confidence. I know it's only another two or three metres to the top. My technique is still not 100 per cent, and tonight I tended to fall off on delivery. That always loses a couple of metres. So there is room for improvement.
"It was also a little bit daunting out there, but I was a lot more relaxed than I thought I would be and definitely gave it everything I had. A year or two ago I was looking up at these girls wondering if I'd ever be among them, and now I am, up over 70 metres in a major championship.
"The first throw took a lot of pressure off. I knew 70 metres would get me into the top eight, and that's what I wanted. I was pretty consistent on the 70-metre mark, just below it, and that's still very good for a major championship."
O'Keeffe's buoyant and optimistic attitude couldn't have been more contrasting to that of Cragg, who walked through the mixed zone with the look of a man destined for the guillotine. His 5,000-metre heat had involved plenty of surging and jostling, all part of qualifying at a major championship - and Cragg just couldn't handle it. After initially running near the back, he moved toward the front with four laps remaining but was soon dropped unceremoniously.
The heat was won by Ethiopia's Tariku Bekele - younger brother of the 10,000-metre champion Kenenisa - in a fairly pedestrian 13:46.42, a time Cragg should have been able to run in his sleep.
Bernard Lagat of the US managed to qualify in third, despite winning the 1,500-metre title the night before.
Quite clearly Cragg has a problem running in these stop-start races, which are completely different from the low-key pace-making jobs in which he recently posted his best of 13:07.10.
"So, what do you want me to say?" he asked us, bathed in sweat, a sad picture of great talent gone astray. "I just felt flat. I anticipated the humidity would affect me, and I'd been training in that, but I guess my mind at halfway thought that nobody else was being affected by it."
He then admitted he didn't like the chopping of pace - which is really no excuse at this level.
"I prepared for this one very well, but just couldn't do what I wanted to do. I worked on a lot of speed, and really thought if I got into the final I could place. Every session I've done since last March has been geared towards that final. But when you can't use all you've worked on for the last six months, for sure, that's heartbreaking."
There will, however, be better nights for Campbell, who clocked 1:46.47 in his heat behind Kenya's Alfred Yego, who won in 1:45.52. You need to be in the whole of your health for 800-metre running, and four days in bed - and still on a drip the night before - clearly took some toll. "I came out here to run fast, not sit on the toilet all week," he explained. Men's 200 Metres final: 1 Tyson Gay (USA) 19.76secs, 2 Usain Bolt (Jam) 19.91, 3 Wallace Spearmon (USA) 20.05.
800 Metres Heats Heat 4: 1 Alfred Kirwa Yego (Ken) 1min 45.52secs, 2 Michael Rimmer (Bri) 1:45.66, 3 Dmitrijs Milkevics (Lat) 1:45.72. Irish placing: 7 David Campbell (Irl) 1:46.47.
5000 Metres Heats Heat 1: 1 Tariku Bekele (Eth) 13mins 46.42secs, 2 Jess Espaa (Spn) 13:46.45, 3 Bernard Lagat (USA) 13:46.57. Irish placing: 13 Alistair Cragg (Irl) 13:59.45.
Long Jump final: 1 Irving Saladino (Pan) 8.57m, 2 Andrew Howe (Ita) 8.47, 3 Dwight Phillips (USA) 8.30.
Women's 400 Metres Hurdles Final: 1 Jana Rawlinson (Aus) 53.31secs, 2 Yuliya Pechenkina (Rus) 53.50, 3 Anna Jesien (Pol) 53.92.
Hammer Throw Final: 1 Betty Heidler (Ger) 74.76m, 2 Yipsi Moreno (Cub) 74.74, 3 Wenxiu Zhang (Chn) 74.39. Irish placing: 6 Eileen O'Keeffe (Irl) 70.93.
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