AthleticsWorld Indoor champion Derval O'Rourke has again deferred her start to the outdoor season and withdrawn from the Irish team for this weekend's European Cup, writes Ian O'Riordan.
It's over three months since O'Rourke's gold medal run over the 60-metre hurdles in Moscow, and she hasn't raced since. O'Rourke, however, is still happy everything will come together for the 100-metre hurdles at the European Championships in Gothenburg, which are eight weeks away.
O'Rourke's withdrawal from the European Cup, on Saturday and Sunday, robs the Irish team of certain points.
Mairéad Murphy of Ferrybank AC takes her place in the 100-metre hurdles, but other events are weakened too. US-based Mary Cullen, who won a superb NCAA title over the 5,000 metres at the weekend, is unable to travel home in time, nor are her Providence College team-mates Martin Fagan and Liam Reale. It means the women's team will have a tough time surviving in their division - the first league Group A, which is hosted by Prague in the Czech Republic. The other teams in the group are Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Latvia and Switzerland.
The men compete in the second league Group A, hosted by the Slovakian town of Banska Bystrica, and will be vying for promotion with Andorra, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Moldova and Slovakia. With Alistair Cragg also still Stateside, leading the hopes for victory are David Gillick (400 metres) and Thomas Chamney (800 metres).
Elsewhere, the AAI will today unveil a whole new management structure for international competitions.
