Terry McHugh's place in Irish Olympic history was consolidated last evening when he was named in the track and field squad for Sydney. His selection came just 72 hours before he seeks to win the javelin title for an unprecedented 17th time in the National Championships at the Morton Stadium, Santry this weekend.

The bigger achievement, however, has been to gain selection in six Olympic squads, four as a javelin thrower in the Summer Games, the remainder as a member of the bobsleigh team in the last two Winter Games.

Only David Wilkins, who won a yachting silver medal at Tallinn in 1980 in the course of his four appearances in the Summer Games, comes anyway close to McHugh's remarkable record.

Now, the honour is likely to be even more appreciated after an eventful season in which the javelin qualifying standard of 82 metres frequently looked out of range for the veteran DCH athlete.

He signalled his intent, however, by getting to within 88 centimetres of that mark in winning the Swiss championship. A week later, he put his claims for recognition beyond doubt with a superb throw in the Grand Prix meeting at Crystal Palace.

Now he is hoping to dredge up another big performance when he defends his national title at Santry on Saturday in what is likely to be his last competitive appearance before the Sydney Games.

There was good news, too, at last evening's meeting of the Olympic Council of Ireland for Belfast shooter James Lewis. He will be Ireland's sole representative in this discipline and gets in because of a late vacancy.