Hession in the Media

Hession wins sprints double at European Athletics Permit Meeting in Cork

A home nation sprints double brought the crowds to their feet at the European Athletics Permit Meeting in Cork, Ireland.

The 57th Cork City Sports meeting saw Irish Sprint record holder Paul Hessian win both the 100 and 200m with a truly World class performance of 10.21, yet it was former World Indoor Hurdles Champion Derval O'Rourke who secured the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Ireland's Hurdling hero has struggled a little to find her form this season, but as she promised, in front of her home crowd she put in a spectacular performance, just missing out on a deserved first place as Jamaica's Andrea Bliss got ahead on the line. Poland's Aurelia Trywianska finished just behind O'Rourke to complete the 100m Hurdles podium.

The host nation claimed two further second place finishes against fierce international competition when Alistair Cragg finished second in the 1,500m behind Bernard Kiptum from Kenya, with

American Rob Myers a fraction behind in third, then later Cragg lined up in the 3,000m, to finish behind Mike Kigen from Kenya who dominated throughout. Cragg's strong performances will make him a likely companion for O'Rourke and Hessian on the road to Beijing.

Young Irish jumper Kelly Proper finished just 1cm shy of Terri Horgan's Irish U23 Long Jump record with 6.38m, but her 6.46m effort had a following wind of 2.27.

Germany's Denise Hinrichs had plenty to celebrate, with a winning Shot Put mark that also placed her well inside the Beijing qualification standard, and Andrea Ispan from Romania won the High Jump with 1.90m.

In the men's Shot Put event, Maris Urtans from Latvia threw 20.04m to finish just 1cm ahead of American Steve Manz.