Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

Brave effort by Thomas Barr in Beijing

On Saturday last at the World Athletic Championships in Beijing Thomas Barr running from the outside lane finished third in his first round heat of the 400 metres hurdles in a time of 49.20 seconds and easily made it through to Sundays semi final with the first four in each heat automatically going through. Unlucky to be drawn in lane nine he came through strongly in the latter stages having been outpaced earlier on. In his semi final on Sunday he again was unluckily drawn in lane 9 and with just two going through to the final from each heat  it was always going to be a tough task. He did run better than Saturday again finishing strongly but again his first 200 metres were a bit off the pace and in finishing fourth in his second best ever time of 48.71 seconds he missed out 48.49 would have got him through. The problem with lane 9 is not being able to see what is going on around you in the other lanes.His next big championships will be the Olympics next year  and with a big concentration on his speed  he may compete for a final spot,his stamina is not a factor.To give some solice to Thomas was the fact that the first and second ranked athletes coming into the championships both failed to make the final

Kelly in action on Wednesday

The second Waterford athlete at the World championships in Beijing Kelly Proper will be in action this Wednesday at 12.15 pm Irish time in the first round of the 200 metres. It is likely that in the first round the first three from each heat plus the 3 fastest losers will progress to Thursdays semi final at 12.35. With Kelly qualifying under the IAAF quota system and being just outside the standard of 23.20 it would appear that to progress she will probably have to dip below 23.20 and hopefully her few weeks training in Hong Kong will have helped her to do just that. We wish her well on the World stage a place she deserves to be, the final of the event is on Friday at 2 pm. On Saturday at the very early time of 3.40 am Irish time the semi final of the men's 4 x 400 metres relay takes place and Thomas Barr is on the Irish team,the final of this event is at 1.25 pm on Sunday    

Glaxosmithkilne win by Murphy

The final race in the Ger Wyley Sports Skins Series was held in Dungarvan on Friday last the 16 th Annual Galaxosmithkiline 5 miles and Brian Murphy Carrick on Suir won it in 26 minutes and 9 seconds,Sandis Bralitis West Waterford was second in 26.19  and Danny Smyth Ballynonty was third in 26.46, First lady home was Adele Walsh St Senan's in 31.03 .Joan Ennis Grange Fermoy was second in 31.38 and Sally Forristal St Joseph's was third in 32.00 The following were the category winners.Men M 40 Mark Rowe South O'Hanlon's, M 45 Frank Hayes East Cork, M 50 Ray Hahessy West Waterford, M 55 Walter Keane Waterford, M 60 Joe Gough West Waterford, Junior Liam Reilly do.  Ladies F 35 Mary Molloy Carrick on Suir,F 40 Maria Condon West Waterford  F 45 Catherine Clancy St Catherine's,F 50 Celia O'Regan Youghal, F 55 Kathleen Kennedy Waterford Junior Aoife Hamilton West Waterford  255 competed and the proceeds went to Irish Hospice Foundation.  Series winners Brian Murphy Carrick on Suir and Sandra Prendergast  The series was organised by West Waterford AC.

Community Games.

Two bronze medals were won by competitors from Waterford at the National Community Games finals in Athlone last week end. .Cathal Scanlon' Mahon Valley was third in the under 14 javelin and Clodagh Butler Ballyduff Upper was third in the under 14 long puck.  

Road Races coming up

Saturday September 5 th Cill Barra 6 km 6 pm Ballybeg Waterford, Friday.September 11 th Ballyduff Lower Co Waterford 5 miles 6.00 pm,Sunday October 11 th 10 miles Run for Life and 5 miles walk Waterford City at 12 noon.

Waterford Primary Schools Cross Country

On Tuesday September 15 th at12.30 pm the Waterford Primary Schools Cross Country Sports for boys and girls will be at the RSC .Races over short distances for each class 1 st to 6 th. ranging from 200 metres to 800 metres Medals for first 12 home in each race and Perpetual Cups for best Schools etc Contact 087 6889330

Deaths

Two deaths occurred last week which had strong local athletic connections. Mrs Margaret Costin, Ballycreen, Ring who died on August 19 th was wife of Jimmy Costin who together with his family including his Olympian son Jamie have a long association with Waterford athletics. The other death was that of Mr Donal Mc Kernan Cork which occurred on August 19 th father of Mary Ashe West Waterford AC  deeply involved in Waterford athletics all her life and also in Irish Schools Athletics and Internationally. Many from athletic clubs in the county attended both funerals. All involved in Waterford athletics offer their sympathy to both families.

Drugs and Sport

Lots of comments in the media in recent weeks about drugs in sport and in particular athletics with accusations being made about cover ups by the IAAF Like all accusations and suspicions they have to be treated carefully until 100 % proof is available then of course all can be named, one thing seems certain there are a small percentage of athletes on drugs as there are in many other sports  Drugs when used are used to cheat and human beings in every walk of life and from every class in Society since time began use different methods of cheating we see it regularly around us so its not solely a sport problem although with some commentators you would think it is.For sportsmen and women professional or amateur in our jurisdiction always remember that if you take a drug or substance its your responsibility and you alone will suffer the consequences with a failed test, any medication you may receive for a condition must be cleared by your doctor or contact the Irish Sports Councils Anti Doping section to see all the banned substances and the strict guidelines.  .