Athens 2004 Men's 5,000 metresIt had echoes of the great Irish distance running of the past. Alistair Cragg - coolly and determinedly fighting his way into the Olympic final. Perhaps even the start of a new era, but definitely the end of another. The moment that might just salvage the Irish fortunes at these Athens Olympics.

It wasn't without some irony, the fact that Cragg was born and raised in South Africa and now represents the homeland of his great-grandparents. But all that matters right now is that Cragg will run in Saturday's Olympic 5,000-metre final. The only European, still only a novice at aged 24, and alongside the greatest names in modern distance running.

How he got there means revisiting the qualities once taken for granted in Irish distance running - his maturity, commitment, desire, and most of all self-belief. Sonia O'Sullivan has almost single-handedly held up those qualities in the Olympic stadiums since 1992, but for the first time in 16 years a male athlete representing Ireland has made a track final.

The last two, Marcus O'Sullivan (1,500 metres) and John Doherty (5,000 metres) in Seoul in 1988, already seem part of a different era. Mark Carroll though had maintained the great heights on various other stages. Last night he finished 15th in his semi-final, then announced his end of days as a track runner.

The night then belonged to Cragg, the thin but impossibly strong white guy in the middle of a pack of African athletes for most of the first semi-final. With only five sure of qualifying he knew the effort had to be total.

Just past 3,000 metres he hit the front, running almost two laps at the front and calmly floating towards his qualification berth.

Three laps out, the big guns started firing. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco moved up a gear, but Cragg held his form. He was sixth at the bell, and was later passed by another Moroccan, Hicham Bellani, but held on for seventh - his time a rewarding 13 minutes 23.01 seconds.

That meant some anxious viewing of the second semi-final - where Carroll bravely pressed the pace in an effort to qualify as one of the five fastest losers. Carroll was gone before 3,000 metres, but the pace stayed within reason. The Algerian Ali Sief Saidi - back from a two-year suspension for EPO use - took the win in 13:18.94. Fifth place was 13:20.03, but only two more came in under Cragg's time.

So he was in as the fourth of five fastest losers - eliminating a plethora of more experienced athletes with far superior personal bests. In Saturday's final, the 14 other men will include three Kenyans, three Ethiopians, two Moroccans, and two Algerians. That Cragg is in there with them in this his first major championships on the track is a brilliant achievement.

"Wow, great," was his first reaction. "But that's what I came here for. I could regroup now and concentrate again for Saturday. But I'm really excited.

"I wasn't quite sure to know what to do in the heats. It's hard to feel like you've got to give it your all, but that in the back of your mind you make it. But seventh, behind those six guys, is actually what I predicted when I saw the start list.

"I know I'm not world class the way those guys are just yet. But give me a year or two and I will kick with them and compete with them for a top-five place. But that's where I wanted to be for now, right on the back of those six, and I was there comfortably. And I wanted to show my presence, and that I wasn't there to tag along, and fade away. So that was good for me mentally."

While Cragg may not be full-blooded Irish he ran with real Irish pride. Afterwards he also paid tribute to the Mayo-born coach that got his career back on track, John McDonnell at the University of Arkansas.

"I'm being coached by a man with a lot of team emphasis, and he has always said that when someone goes down, someone else has to step up to get the morale back. I don't know if I quite stepped up but I've got the opportunity to.

"Sonia got into the final, which we were all very happy with. I'm there now, but the job is not done yet. I've got to go out there and do something special. But hopefully I can be the one to lift the morale.

"And I do want to set a trend, and maybe help the young Irish athletes. We have had a rough time to date. But if they see a young guy like myself coming through, doing it properly and evolving year by year, that might give them some motivation.

"People like Colin Costello. He's run faster than me at his age and is someone else to look towards."

All this buoyancy and optimism was, unfortunately, contrasted in the face of Mark Carroll, who walked away from his semi-final knowing that his 15th-place finish in 13:46.81 marked the end of his fine and honest track career. He's still the Irish record holder with his 13:03.93 and will certainly try a couple more marathons but, just recently engaged to his long-time American girlfriend, Amy Rudolph, he will surely find the priorities are elsewhere.

"I just didn't have it in my legs," he said. "Overall I'm just that bit tired, and have been for the four weeks since I've come from St Moritz. Maybe I overtrained up there."

His tactics were brave but ultimately fatal. He led the first 2,000 metres in 5:24.90 but soon after was falling back the field, his race over: "You had so many guys there on 13 minutes, that I just had to try squeak in there on time if I kept it honest. But I just couldn't hold it." As a parting shot though, Carroll made it clear what he thought about the Olympic Council of Ireland demanding such early qualification marks.

"I know athletes aren't performing here. In my case I know there are several reasons. Number one I'm 32, the second-oldest guy on that start list. So maybe it is my time to ship out and move on to the marathon.

"But we were all put into the position where we had to get qualifying times early. I ran 13:18 in Stanford in May feeling like it was a Sunday run. But you can't peak twice. There's only one peak and that's the Olympic Games.

"People need to realise that in order to obtain a sub-13:20 is a peak. In my case I couldn't hold it. But being asked to do that is unnecessary. It blows my mind."