There was an inspirational performance in Vienna from Tom Coman in the European Indoor Championships when, in his first round heat, he smashed the Irish 400 metres record.
Finishing second behind Poland's Mark Plawgo, the fastest European this year, 22-year-old Coman scorched to a terrific time of 46.49 seconds _ a huge improvement on his own personal best of 47.33secs.
David McCarthy acquitted himself well when finishing second in his race.
The Czech Jiri Muzik won in 46.77 and McCarthy also moved into Saturday's semi-final with a confident 47.07. But Robert Daly was less fortunate.
Drawn in the tight inside lane, the winner of the AAA senior title finished fifth in 47.75.
Meanwhile, James Nolan made it into tomorrow's 1500m final as a fastest loser.
The silver medallist two years ago in Ghent, he clocked 3-40.78.
Peter Coghlan progressed to Saturday's 60m final as a fastest loser in a time of 7.72.
But in the 200m both contestants failed to progress. Tom Comyns was last in his race in a time of 21.73 and despite running a season's best 21.34 Gary Ryan was also eliminated.
Sarah Riley cruised into her 200m semi-final in a time of 23.72 but had earlier covered almost 50 metres before stopping after not hearing the starter's recall gun following a false start. She placed last in 23.90.
Ciara Sheehy made the semi-finals as a fastest loser after finishing third in a personal best 23.34., but after only finishing third in the semi-final her challenge came to a halt.
In the high jump Deidre Ryan, who jumped only 1.84m, was eliminated.