A round up of today's other stories in brief
Doran's memorable performance a highlight but weather spoils final day
SAILING: The weather eventually ruled supreme on Dublin Bay yesterday when the fourth and final day of racing in the ISA Mitsubishi Youth National Championship was cancelled due to the sea-state, writes David Branigan.
There were no big surprises in many of the top results though the closeness of some of the class leaders spoke volumes of the competition.
In the 420 class, the top three crews drew on level points after eight races in the series and only after a countback were Patrick and Chloe Crosbie of the Royal Cork Yacht Club confirmed national champions.
Aodh Kennedy with Daniel Browne from Kinsale and Tralee along with Emma Geary and Niamh Connolly from the RCYC and Baltimore placed second and third respectively.
However, it was Courtown’s Philip Doran whose master-class over the series confirmed him as national champion in the Laser Radial against a 43-strong fleet, one of the three biggest in the event.
Sophie Murphy from Quoile YC was best of the girls in the class while Saskia Tidey from the Royal Irish YC closed the gap on her towards the end but the weather cancellation yesterday ended the prospects of a showdown afloat between the pair.
Murphy will now go to Croatia for the Youth worlds this year and will still be eligible for 2012 selection.
Tidey meanwhile, is expected to continue into the senior fleet as a prospect for the 2016 Olympics.
The series was also a test event for the 2012 Youth Worlds that will be held in Dun Laoghaire and the feedback from ISAF’s Fiona Kidd was very positive after her trip from Canada to see the venue on Sunday.
Henson given a 'final chance'
RUGBY: Troubled Wales centre Gavin Henson has been given a second and “final chance” by French side Toulon having initially been told to leave following a breach of discipline, the club said yesterday. He was suspended two weeks ago by the club with unconfirmed reports saying Henson had fought with a team -mate following a match.
“I consulted my staff, I consulted the group and I decided this morning to return Gavin Henson to the line-up until the end of the season,” club president Mourad Boudjellal told a news conference.
Christie gets back on track
ATHLETICS: Mark Christie got his Olympic aspirations back on track in California over the weekend when he chopped almost 10 seconds off his 5,000 metres best at the Peyton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University in Palo Alto.
The 26-year-old from Mullingar finished fifth in a high-quality race with a time of 13:28.21 which represents a significant improvement on the 13:37.36 which he ran at the same meeting last year and just within a stride or two of the B standard for the World Championships next August. It moves him up to 11th on the Irish all-time list.
More importantly for Christie this run will give him a realistic hope of achieving the A standard if 13:20 for the London Olympics over the next 15 months and so achieve his lifetime ambition. Alistair Cragg, running just two weeks after his blisters hit marathon debut, trailing in eighth in 13:30.21.
The 10,000 m at the meeting proved sensational with 22 athletes getting the Olympic A standard with 14 doing so in the men’s race. The winner, 20 year old Kenyan, Bedan Baroki, was simply sensational and ran the last 2,800m in a mind blowing 7:22 to win in 27:13.67.
Chesire smashes Belfast record
ATHLETICS: Kenya’s Jacob Chesire yesterday battled the odds to smash the 26-year old Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon record by almost a minute.
Despite admitting to having just a few hours’ sleep in airports over the past three days, the diminutive Chesire set a blistering pace to romp home in 2.14.56 – shaving an incredible 55 seconds off the previous record of 2.15.51, set by Belfast’s own Marty Deane back in 1986.
Chesire’s stunning display robbed fellow countryman John Mutai of his dream to win an unprecedented fourth Belfast race in the last five years, and the fancied Kenyan had to settled for a second successive runners-up slot, in 2.19.55.
Ukraine’s Andre Toptun completed the podium places, with a solid display to come third in 2.21.33.
The women’s race was won by late entrant Vera Ovcharuk, of Ukraine, in 2.46.04, followed by Russia’s Elena Kozhevnikova in 2.48.05, while Kenya’s Rael Kimaio fell away from her initial leading place to come in third.
