Equestrian Sport: Cruising, the stallion that has done so much to promote the Irish sport horse in recent years, has been retired. The 15-year-old, which was bred by Mary McCann at Hartwell Stud in Co Kildare, was due to travel to Aachen on Saturday to jump with John Whitaker at next week's Nations Cup show, but Mrs McCann made the decision to retire the horse to stud, writes Grania Willis.
The world famous grey, which finished second in last year's World Cup finals with Trevor Coyle, won the 1999 Aachen Grand Prix and would have been travelling to Germany to defend his title. His career has been somewhat chequered over the past 12 months, with Trevor Coyle losing the ride after a disappointing first round at the European championships in Hickstead last August.
"The long distance travelling is very hard on the horse at his age", Mrs McCann said yesterday, "so we've decided to retire him and concentrate on stud work. But two of his offspring, Cruiseline and Rincoola Abu will be jumping on the Irish team in Aachen next week."
Athletics: The Irish teams at this weekend's European Cup had mixed fortunes as the men gained promotion from their second league competition in Kaunas, Lithuania while the women, competing in Bydgoszcz, Poland, were relegated from the first league.
There were a number of impressive results on the men's side, none more so than Paul Brizzell's sprint double over 100 (10.44 seconds) and 200 metres (20.80). There were also crucial victories for James Nolan, who took a tactical 1,500 metres in three minutes 45.07 seconds, and Dermot Donnelly's 5,000 metre win in 13:56.74.
Also gaining maximum points was Paul McKee in the 400 metres (46.82 seconds) and then came two relay victories - which also brought Olympic qualifying standards. The 4x100 metre time of 39.90 seconds was anchored by Brizzell while the 4x400 metres (3:06.07) was also based on the strong finish of McKee.
The woman didn't fare as well although there was also an Olympic qualifier in the 4x400 metre relay with a time of 3:33.20 - a team anchored by Karen Shinkins who had previously finished third in the individual 400 metres (52.61 seconds).
There were notable victories for both Susan Smith in the 400 metre hurdles (56.16) and Anne Keenan-Buckley in the 5,000 (15:57.44) but with a number of poor showings elsewhere,. The Irish eventually finished with 64 points and seventh of the eight competing countries.
Motorcycling: Northern Ireland's Jeremy McWilliams was within three laps of glory before his dream of a British Grand Prix triumph was dashed at a damp Donington Park yesterday.
The 36-year-old led the 30-lap battle for almost nine thrilling laps. Eventually, McWilliams, the oldest man in the field, had to bow to the youngest as 21-year-old Italian Valentino Rossi grabbed his first 500cc victory.
Despite a determined effort, McWilliams then saw a career-best second place taken from him at the very last corner by America's championship leader Kenny Roberts.
McWilliams finished just under a second down on Rossi as he was denied the victory he wanted as the best tribute to fellow Ulsterman Joey Dunlop, killed in a racing accident last weekend.
"It has been an emotional week and I wanted to win it for Joey but also for everyone else who came along this weekend," added McWilliams, as he also thanked the 18,000 crowd.
Rugby: It may be the annual holiday season in Ulster but that does not apply to the provincial rugby team. The squad are already in full training for the new season and will play Coventry on August 11th.
Meanwhile, Connacht have been drawn with two French sides Montferrand and Beziers and Welsh club Neath in Pool Two of the 20002001 European Shield competition.
