Sports digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Cragg qualifies for London Games with New York time

ATHLETICS:Alistair Cragg's rollercoaster career hit an unexpected high on Saturday night when he clocked the fastest 5,000 metres by a European this season – and in the process qualified for both the World Championships in August and next year's London Olympics, writes Ian O'Riordan.

The wet, blustery conditions in New York for the Diamond League meeting were far from ideal, yet the 30-year-old Cragg defied this and his current form to clock 13:12.21 when finishing eighth, not only his fastest time since running 13:07.10 four years ago but also the fastest by a European this year.

This was well inside the A-qualifying standard of 13:20.0 for both the World Championships in Daegu and the London Olympics, and will go a long way towards restoring Cragg’s confidence as he attempts to rediscover the form of his early career. Cragg had eight of the 11 Kenyans behind him with Dejen Gabremeskel of Ethiopia taking victory in 13:05.22.

Both Fionnuala Britton and Stephanie O’Reilly also ran lifetime best times by several seconds in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, clocking 9:37.60 and 9:42.91 respectively, which also beat both the World Championship and Olympic standard (9:43.00), and Britton’s time ranks her number two in Europe. There was also a better run from David Gillick when finishing fourth in the B 400 metres race in 46.64, improving on his seasonal opener of 46.80 last week, despite the bad conditions.

Murphy takes bronze medal

SAILING:In a significant boost to her London 2012 Olympic campaign, Annalise Murphy ended the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth on Saturday with the bronze medal in the Laser Radial class, writes David Branigan. The medal race final concluded an 11-race series that saw the National Yacht Club single-handed take no fewer than five outright wins.

Just 10 boats from the original entry of 91 sailors in her class made the final cut of 10 places in the final though this was her sixth such race in the last year. Having led the class on Thursday, she slipped to third place going into the final.

A 33rd place in the series opening race that was beset by flukey conditions last Monday was followed by a weightier 37th on Friday which used her single race discard and meant counting the first race points. In effect, this closed the door on a chance for gold.

And while silver was a mathematical chance on Saturday, protecting third place was a priority too. Inevitably, the final turned into a group of match-races.

The Netherlands’ Marit Bouwmeester squared up to Belgium’s Evi Van Ecker during the starting sequence and their fight for gold commenced. The two British boats competing for their national selection trials also covered each other closely on the line and while Murphy’s main threat was from France’s Sophie de Turckheim, both opted-out of confrontation.

On completion of the first lap of two, the French sailor was obliged to retire having been flagged three times by the International Jury under Rule 42 for propulsion using body kinetics.

A long-break to the left-handside of the course by Murphy for the second lap saw her place drop from third on the water to sixth by the finish but it was enough to secure the medal while there was Dutch gold and silver for the Belgian.

Ireland’s sailors return to Weymouth in August for the pre-Olympic test event which will mark the anniversary of Peter O’Leary’s gold medal success that he was unable to repeat with David Burrows last week.

Cited Buckley gets one-match ban

RUGBY:Irish Under-20 forward Shane Buckley has been banned for one match after being cited for an incident in the closing stages of the opening game in the Junior World Championship against England on Friday evening.

The versatile Garryowen clubman, who can play second row or back row, was yellow-carded by South Africa referee Jaco Peyper following the intervention of a touch judge in the closing moments of the game which England won 33-25.

Ireland had just taken the lead for the first time and England went back in front from the resultant penalty, with a late converted try denying Mike Ruddock’s men a losing bonus point.

Irish manager Mick Kearney, who attended the citing hearing in Treviso yesterday morning, confirmed that Buckley (19) had been cited for bringing his knee into contact with an opposing player.

“There were mitigating circumstances and these were taken into account at the hearing. We are happy with the process and the outcome,” said Kearney.

Buckley will miss tomorrow’s clash against South Africa in Treviso.

Loreto to face HC Olten in final

HOCKEY:Loreto finished top of their pool at the Champions Challenge in Lille yesterday after making it three wins out of three with a 4-2 victory over Swansea, writes Mary Hannigan.

They now have a chance to earn Ireland promotion to the third tier of the European club competition in today’s final – one of two in the tournament – against HC Olten of Switzerland.

Having beaten HTC Wien of Austria 4-1 on Friday, the Dublin side eased to a 3-0 win over hosts Lille on Saturday, Ali Meeke (two) and Nicci Daly getting their goals, before a Nikki Symmons double helped them to yesterday’s 4-2 defeat of Swansea.

Wiggins wins Dauphine

CYCLING: Bradley Wiggins underlined his Tour de France credentials by winning the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday to claim the biggest road race victory of his career. The Team Sky leader became the first Briton to win the Tour warm-up race since Robert Millar in 1990, and the first Englishman since Brian Robinson in 1961. Wiggins, who finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France but crumbled in the mountains last year, took the yellow jersey after Wednesday's time trial and hung on to his lead thanks to a solid display in the mountain stages.