ATHLETICS: The way the Irish race walkers have been improving in recent seasons it may only be a matter of time before one of them brings home a medal from a major championship. Gillian O'Sullivan will definitely be thinking that way in Munich tomorrow, though Robert Heffernan could just beat her to the honour. From Ian O'Riordan in Munich
The men's 20 km walk is one of only three titles to be decided on the opening day (along with the women's 10,000 metres and men's shot putt) and Heffernan, the second highest ranked Irish athlete in Munich after Sonia O'Sullivan, has genuine medal ambitions.
Still just 24, Heffernan has progressed with remarkable consistency since he first took up the sport at school in Coláiste Chríost Rí in his native Cork city. At his first major championships in the 1999 World Cup he finished a long way back in 70th place. At the World Championships in Edmonton last summer he took 14th - the top men's finisher on the Irish team.
This season he's again dropped his best by almost a minute and the one hour, 20 minutes and 25 seconds he clocked three months ago is still the seventh fastest by a European this year. Few events combine such technicality and endurance, yet few athletes have taken to it more naturally than Heffernan.
"I do think it's one of those events where anything can happen on the day," he says. "And I have also already beaten a couple of those athletes ranked ahead of me. And I was delighted with the way the training went in Salzburg the last two weeks. It was hot and humid and good preparation for the conditions here.
"And I know what it takes to win a medal here. Up to now I would have been a little overawed coming into a race like this, and looking around at the guys on the start line but that's not the case anymore. In fact I think a few of those guys are looking at me now."
With defending champion Ilya Markow of Russia a non-starter, as well as Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski of Poland, Heffernan certainly won't be out of his depth. Spain's Francisco Fermandez seems like the man to beat but there is a level of confidence in Heffernan these days likely to bring him very close to the medals.
Seven other Irish athletes are in action in today's opening session. The three 400 metres men go in this morning's heats and new Irish record holder Paul McKee is definitely looking to progress all the way to the final. His 45.58 ranks him second fastest in his heat, and with the top three (and four fastest losers) coming through, McKee shouldn't be troubled.
Robert Daly and David McCarthy may be little more pushed in qualifying. Daly has drawn British hope Sean Baldock and will have to come close to his best of 46.07 to get another day out, while McCarthy - who at 19 is the second youngest male athlete in the entire championships - is thinking more about the long-term future.
The Irish team also includes the second oldest female entrant of the championships in Ann Keenan-Buckley, who joins O'Sullivan and Marie Davenport in the 10,000 metres. Aged 40, her second coming has been well highlighted on the cross-country scene and Munich now represents her first major appearance on the track since the Seoul Olympics in 1988. The achievement is there to be relished.
Davenport, who ran the 1996 Olympics over 5,000 metres (as Maria McMahon) has also been rediscovering her best form this season. At 27, she's running better now than ever and won't be over-intimidated by the European field. A top-12 finish is the target.
James Nolan goes in the first of two 1,500 metre heats thinking only of qualification. It's no secret that his form has dipped dramatically this season and with only four guaranteed to progress (plus four fastest losers) the UCD athlete can't afford to take chances. One of the title favourites Mehdi Baala of France is one of seven athletes in the heat who have run faster than Nolan's best this season.
Finally, there is Irish interest in the heats of women's 800 metres where Australian-born Adrienne McIvor hopes to maintain her recent rate of improvement at the age of 31. A season's best of 2:02.28 probably won't be good enough for qualification but there may yet be more to come.
McIvor's morale was knocked a little, however, at the Commonwealth Games last week. Her Derry-born mother appeared to qualify her to compete but having arrived at the athletes village, she was told her entry couldn't be ratified. At least Munich has been a little more welcoming.
Meanwhile, Heike Drechsler's attempt to win a record-breaking fifth consecutive title in front of her adoring German fans will be one of the highlights of tonight's programme.
The Berlin Wall had another three years to stand when Drechsler won her first European title in 1986 wearing the vest of East Germany.
She says she is fitter than ever but at 37 the Olympic champion's rivals have never stood a better chance of spoiling her record.
