Athletics:There was disappointment for the three Irish athletes in action on the opening day of the Athletics World Championships in Berlin today as Róisin McGettigan and Thomas Chamney failed to advance while Robert Heffernan finished 15th in the 20km walk.
Heffernan came into the race as a genuine medal hopeful but the tough 27 degree heat conditions on the German streets didn’t play into the Corkman’s hands.
He kept pace with the lead group in the first half of the race but the conditions took their toll and the Togher club man eventually crossed the line 15th in a time of 1:22:09.
Although the time was a season’s best it wasn’t the sort of form that secured top 10 finishes in both the 2007 Worlds and last year's Olympics in Beijing.
In difficult warm conditions Russia's Olympic champion Valeriy Borchin, 22, won in a time of 1:18:41.
The 22-year-old Russian star got the better of China's Hao Wang over the closing stages, with Wang (1:19.06) and Mexico's Eder Sanchez (1:19.22) completing the podium places.
Earlier today McGettigan failed in her bid to make the 3,000m steeplechase final as she finished 13th of the 14 runners in her heat (9.59.10).
Dubliner Chamney lined up in the second heat of the 1500m but finished seventh (3:42.54), two places outside an automatic qualifying berth. Kenya’s Asbel Kipruto Kiprop won the heat in a time of 3:41.42.
Most of the attention was on the sprinters where Olympic 100m gold medallist Usain Bolt and world champion Tyson Gay kept their much-awaited world championship showdown on track, both cruising into the semi-finals in commanding form.
Bolt, holder of the 100m and 200m world records from last year's Beijing Games, looked impressive in his heat, turning his head to see his fellow runners after only 50 metres and exchanging smiles with Daniel Bailey from Antigua who clocked 10.02, a hundredth of a second ahead of the Jamaican.
"I was happy I got out so I did not need to do any more work, so I am just saving, I am enjoying it. Overall it is good, I am happy with myself and I did well," said Bolt.
American Gay, with the best time this year, recovered from a bad start to grab the lead after 80 metres and clock 9.98, ahead of Jamaica's Michael Frater who ran 10.09.
Gay, though, said he was starting to feel a nagging groin injury.
"It went pretty well, my groin is pretty sore," he said. “But I haven't worked on my start yet so to run that fast felt good."
Former world record holder Asafa Powell made amends for just scraping into the second round with a sloppy run in the morning, powering to a heat victory with 9.95, the best time of the day despite a slight headwind.
Briton Dwain Chambers shrugged off boos from the crowd to win his heat and book his place in tomorrow's semis.
The European indoor 60 metres champion served a two-year doping ban after testing positive for the steroid THG in 2003.
"I am very pleased. I felt great this morning," he said. "As you get older it takes longer to recover. It's going well and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Churandy Martina, fourth in the Beijing Olympics, missed out as the biggest name in the Netherland Antilles clocked 10.19 for fourth in his heat.
In an unusual decision, Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre and Daniel Grueso from Colombia were disqualified from their heat after both were credited with a second false start.
The semi-finals and final start from 7.35pm Irish time tomorrow.