Strong women's team capable of winning medals

ATHLETICS: The presence of Sonia O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan, with three more Olympians for support, means Ireland have a real chance of glory in the European Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh on Sunday week.

Team medals will be the least of the women's ambitions, with gold a real prospect and the individual title also among the shining possibilities.

In fact it's the sort of women's team that the all-conquering Africans would be worried about if they were involved.

Together the six athletes announced by Athletics Ireland yesterday can expect to challenge the finest in Europe, and at their best should outnumber them when the team scores are totalled. Had the men's team not been robbed of two of its most talented athletes then they too could have been regarded as real medal contenders.

As expected, however, neither Cathal Lombard nor Keith Kelly was fit for selection and Séamus Power will lead the hopes of at least improving on the sixth place team finish of a year ago. Alistair Cragg, still based at the University of Arkansas, has also been selected.

Although a minor dose of the flu forced McKiernan to miss Sunday's National Intercounties championship in Mullingar - which doubled as the trials for Edinburgh - she was never in danger of missing out on team selection. Like O'Sullivan and US-based Marie Davenport, she was selected on current form, with the other three places going to the top three finishers in Mullingar - Rosemary Ryan, Jolene Byrne and Ann Keenan Buckley.

Team coach Jerry Kiernan made no secret on what he considers the Irish goal for Edinburgh. "If all six women run according to current form then definitely we are in with a chance of winning medals," he said. "But Sonia is also a potential winner of the race, no question about it. And Catherina would be thinking that way as well."

It's well known O'Sullivan and McKiernan, who both turned 34 within the last fortnight, also have ambitions of winning the individual title. O'Sullivan has been preparing especially for this in Australia and returns to her London base this Friday, easing up for the week and then hoping to end her season on a high. And at the same time help to remove the nightmare of the World Championships in Paris last August.

McKiernan returns to the championships for the first time since winning the inaugural edition in Alnwick in the north of England back in 1994. Her form has been steadily improving all year and victory in the Margate cross country last month was just like old times.

Davenport, Ryan and Keenan Buckley are all former Olympians with considerable cross country experience. Completing the team is Byrne who, though born in America, qualifies to run for Ireland through her husband, and will thus make her international debut. The best four finishers make up the final team score.

Doubts about McKiernan's fitness after missing Sunday's race were short-lived. She was quick to confirm her intention on running in Edinburgh, and with just the fortnight between the two races, the Irish coach had no doubt she had made the right decision.

"Absolutely," said Kiernan. "It was a tough course on Sunday, very traditional cross country and not for the faint-hearted. And if you weren't well then it would have been very hard to have a good run down there. And perhaps recover the way you wanted."

Pivotal to the chances of Ireland taking the individual and team titles will the decision of Paula Radcliffe. Though included on the British team, she has yet to confirm her participation. Should she run she would be the automatic favourite to win, and also drag Britain closer to the team title.

The men's team has clearly been hit by the loss of Lombard, who is suffering from a virus, and Kelly, who continues to suffer an unfortunate run of injuries. Cragg's decision to return from the US to run is at least part compensation, with his eighth-place finish in Croatia last year the first glimpse of his extraordinary potential. Yet he is still coming back from minor surgery, taking eighth in the US Collegiate cross country championships last month, a race he would normally be capable of winning.

So after Power, who collected that remarkable ninth successive Intercounties title on Sunday, the team is made up of the next four home in Mullingar (Peter Mathews, Vinny Mulvey, Rob Connolly and Mark Kenneally), and then Cragg.

"Of course it's a big boost to have someone like Cragg in the team," added Kiernan. "But it's a huge pity that Keith and Cathal are not fit to run. With Cragg, Kelly and Lombard, and any one of the remainder, I would feel it was a bloody strong quartet.

"In fact I would visualise going very close to winning both the men's and women's titles with all our personnel out, but with such a small pool of athletes we can't really afford to be missing two of our best men. But it's still a good team, and it's great to see the younger athletes like Rob Connolly and Mark Kenneally in there, because they are the future. But I would be less sanguine about the men's chances of getting into the medals."

The course at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh is not extremely testing, run over gently undulating meadowland, although it does include one particularly demanding hill known as the Haggis Knowe.

SENIOR MEN: S Power (Kilmurry/Ibrickane), P Mathews (Dundrum South Dublin), V Mulvey (Raheny), R Connolly (Dundrum South Dublin), M Kenneally (Raheny), A Cragg (Unattached)

SENIOR WOMEN: A Keenan Buckley (North Laois), R Ryan (Bilboa), J Byrne (Donore Harriers), S O'Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh), C McKiernan (Annalee), M Davenport (Marian)

JUNIOR MEN: M Christie (Mullingar), A Ledwith (Fr Murphy AC), Alan McCormack (Dundrum South Dublin), J Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), J McCarthy (Riverstick), D Mulhare (North Laois)

JUNIOR WOMEN: L Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin), F Britton (Slí Chulainn), F Nic Riamoin (Clonliffe), S O'Doherty (Borrisokane), O Drumm (Limerick), M Gallagher (Dundrum South Dublin)