Smith leaves significant opponents in her wake

Susan Smith declared herself "very happy" with her 55.70 seconds for the 400 metre hurdles at Bellinzone in Switzerland on Wednesday and now looks forward to further improvement over the same distance in Linz tomorrow. In finishing second, Smith was just behind world record holder Kim Batten of the US but more importantly left some significant Europeans in her wake.

"I was in an outside lane which didn't help matters but I ended up running level with Kim for much of the race," said Smith. "Then there was a battle between three of us for the second spot and thankfully I got there ahead of them."

Both Anna Konoraz of Russia, bronze medallist at the last European Championships, and Ann Mercken of Belgium finished behind Smith, giving her plenty of encouragement for the Europeans in Budapest next month. It's her second fastest time this season after the 55.64 in the Europa Cup last month.

"I'm very pleased now with my last few races," she added. "You don't know your form until you get to race so this is a good indicator." After Linz, Smith will compete the following week in either Nuremberg or Lille before heading back to the US for the Goodwill Games in New York.

The shortage of 400 metre hurdle races his season was a concern for Smith although she has kept herself reasonably busy. Last weekend she ran both the 100 and 400 hurdles in Cork and the next day ran three events at the National League in Waterford. Her next race in Ireland will be the National Championships on the last weekend of this month.

At the same meeting in Bellinzone, Romanian Gabriela Szabo set the fastest mile time of the year with her 4:19.30, making her only the 10th women in history to break 4:20 for the mile. Szabo will now face Sonia O'Sullivan over 1500m at the Bislett Games in Oslo next Thursday.

O'Sullivan is stepping down to the 1500 as part of her continued preparation for the Europeans and this race will certainly provide her with a significant challenge. Oslo is the first of six IAAF Golden League competitions that offer a jackpot of $1 million for athletes that win their event in the series as well as the Grand Prix final in Moscow in September.

Meanwhile, there is a busy schedule of competition at Tullamore over the weekend with the National Veterans, Junior and Under-23 Championships taking place. A number of athletes back from scholarships in the US for the summer will be making an appearance, including an interesting clash of Alan Dunleavy and Keith Kelly in the 5000 metres.

James Nolan is part of a 17member team that competes in a six-nation meet in Budapest tomorrow. Nolan will be looking to improve on his impressive 1:47.10 when winning the 800m in Cork last weekend, a time that also qualified him for the European Championships next month.

The Irish mountain-racing team travel this weekend for the European in Siestre, Italy. The four-man squad may not be the strongest Ireland can produce with Noel Berkeley, John Lenehin and Robin Bryson all staying at home with the Reunion Island World Championships in September on their minds. Kevin Thompson (London Irish), Paul Nolan (Crusaders), Shane Green (Pudsey and Bramley) and Willy Guiney (Desmond Currans) will make up the Irish contingent.