The battle of the sexes is again an issue in Irish sport - and on this occasion at least it is the male of the species who is now perceived as the weaker.

While the World Cross Country Championships in the Algarve at the weekend confirmed Irish women in the top bracket of the sport, the men's team again languished in the darker regions of the points table.

Even in the absence of Catherina McKiernan, a potential medalist when fit and running well, the women failed by just a couple of points to pip the United States for the bronze medals in the team event.

Given that the Cavan athlete, together with Una English, another possible high scorer, were marked absent from the action last Saturday, this latest effort was even more praiseworthy than that at Turin three years ago when third place was acclaimed as something of a watershed in the evolution of women's athletics in this country.

Alas, the same rate of growth has not been evidenced in men's competition. It's now 21 years since John Treacy recorded the second of his world cross country successes at Limerick and the prospect of another Irishman emulating that achievement grows more forlorn by the year.

It is valid to suggest that direct comparisons between men's and women's cross country competitions are unfair in the sense that currently there is far more depth in the men's events.

Undeniable also is the fact that since Treacy powered through the mud for his place in history, the face of cross country running has been changed almost beyond recognition by the vast explosion in standards set by African athletes.

The imbalance between Africa and the rest has now reached the point where at times it appears almost beyond correction. And on the rare occasions European-based athletes have succeeded, it has only been made possible by importing the finished product as in the case of the Moroccan Mohamed Mourhit who carried Belgium's colours to victory on Sunday.

In that sense, it may be wrong to labour the shortcomings of the Irish runners in the race. And yet it is difficult to be anything other than critical when the first of the Irish finishers, Peter Matthews, crosses the line in 72nd place and the national champion, Seamus Power, is 29 places further back.

Given the time and effort which went into the preparations - Power had travelled to Kenya at his own expense to make ready for this year's championship - that was bitterly disappointing. And it begs the question if we need to reappraise the standards for selection and the merits, if any, which derive from such blatant mismatches.

Meanwhile, Matthews and Power, together with Noel Berkely and Dermot Donnelly, are seeking entry to the 10,000 metres races, category A and B, being staged in Lisbon on April 1st in the hope of achieving qualifying standards for the Olympic Games at Sydney.

Rosemary Ryan, one of those who left the Algarve with an enhanced reputation, is hoping for an invitation to run in the women's equivalent. Like Breda Dennehy Willis, Ryan, who is back in Ireland after some three years abroad, qualified for a grant of £7,000 by finishing in the top 30 in the championship.

Meanwhile, Sonia O'Sullivan will have her next race in Scotland on April 23rd when she is due to run in a road race in Balmoral. She plans to take a short break after that before returning for the start of the outdoor season in the summer.

Almost by definition Catherina McKiernan's plans are more fluid. Yet after recently returning from the latest of her injury problems to restart light training she may be ready to relaunch her road-racing career at the end of next month.

Kenyan athletics officials were disappointed by criticism of their actions at the World Cross Country Championships by five-times champion Paul Tergat.

"How can he say we (the management) cost him the title? We had three other individual winners and many other medals, so the management was not bad," said Kenyan team manager Patrick Khambata yesterday.

Tergat blamed ineptitude by the Kenyan federation (KAAA) for costing him an unprecedented sixth individual gold on Sunday. He finished third behind Belgian winner Mohammed Mourhit. He accused the KAAA of failing to make crucial decisions on team composition until 10 a.m. on the morning of the race, only two hours before the gun.

"We were prepared to leave and just go back home. We had been waiting for the management to consult the team but that didn't happen," Tergat said.

Khambata said that, as team captain, Tergat should have known what was going on.