Smith to miss indoors

Susan Smith, the national 60 metres hurdles record holder, will not be among the contenders for the World Indoor Championships at Maebashi in Japan on March 5th-7th.

Just weeks after establishing a new Irish record of 8.30 seconds in Johnson City, Tennessee, Smith has intimated that she does not wish to be considered for selection.

There is also considerable doubt about Mark Carroll's participation in the men's 3,000 metres in Japan.

Despite improving by 12 hundreds of a second on her previous best, Smith reckons that it is still not quick enough to give her a realistic chance of reaching the finals in Japan.

Given her background as an outdoor 400 metres hurdles runner her decision is scarcely surprising. Yet Smith believes her indoor campaign can prove invaluable in setting her up for some big performances this summer.

The World Championships in Seville in August remain her primary objective and with a good winter's work behind her she is confident of consolidating her ranking as one of the top Europeans in the event.

Carroll, the bronze medallist in the European 5,000 metres outdoor championships in Budapest last August, has built on that achievement with a series of useful performances during the current indoor campaign.

Revitalised after his run in the Millrose Games in New York a week earlier, the Cork man travelled to Birmingham for the BUPA Grand Prix meeting on Sunday and, despite being lapped by Haile Gebrselassie during the Ethiopian's world record run in the 5,000 metres, managed to set a new Irish best of 13 minutes 31.93 seconds.

Carroll's problem now is that if he goes to Japan it could hinder his preparations for the World Cross Country Championships in Belfast on March 27th.

In the absence of Sonia O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan, Carroll would be one of Ireland's best prospects at the meeting and he may not wish to jeopardise his chances by prolonging his indoor season.

Overall, Ireland could have a big input into the short course championship as Gareth Turnbull, second in the British 1,500 metres indoor championship, has indicated his intention to run. Although 10 athletes have achieved the qualifying standard for the World Indoor Championships it is expected that no more than half will be selected when the squad is finalised later this the week.

James Nolan and David Matthews, who fought out a thrilling finish to the National Championship at Nenagh on Sunday, appear to be assured of selection at 800 metres and James McIlroy, another impressive winner at that meeting, will have substantial claims for selection at 400 metres.

There will be strong support too for the nomination of Peter Coghlan, the consistent Crusaders athlete, who erased T J Kearns's name from the record books with a time of 7.67 seconds for the 60 metres hurdles at the weekend.