Catherina McKiernan's dispute with BLE deepened yesterday when she announced that she had abandoned plans to run in the world half marathon championship in Zurich on September 27th.

Instead, she will compete in the Route de Vin race in Luxembourg on the same day when her opponents will include the formidable German runner, Katrin Dorre.

In an attempt to precipitate a change of policy by BLE who refused to enter her for the Zurich race unless she contracted to run in the national inter-club and world cross-country championships at the end of the season, McKiernan had earlier hinted that she would run in Luxembourg.

In the event, the impasse went unresolved on Thursday and in a statement yesterday, the McKiernan camp indicated their intention of changing tack and competing in an event which doesn't have the stature of the world championship in Switzerland.

"This decision became necessary after Catherina was not selected to represent Ireland in the world championship, although she has the third fastest time in the world this year for the half marathon.

"One of the most important points in the preparations of an athlete is the planning of his or her racing schedule. Time has run out for the race in Zurich and this has become a distraction that Catherina must move beyond, as she prepares to run in the Amsterdam marathon on November 1st. She simply cannot afford to delay her decision any longer.

"She is looking forward to competing in Luxembourg against Katrin Dorre, one of the world's leading marathon runners who, like Catherina, has won the London marathon."

Dorre, a member of the once feared East German squad, has won the Hamburg marathon this year but in spite of her imposing presence, the Luxembourg event carries neither the stature nor the depth in quality which makes the race in Zurich one of the most important of its type. Neither can it match the prize fund of £70,000 of which the winner will collect £25,000.

Peader McKiernan, Catherina's brother, said that while the story did not break until last Tuesday, the problem had been at issue since mid July. The athlete has been logging 120 miles a week in training in the intervening period and it was grossly unfair, he said, that she find herself caught up in an administrative dispute which ought to have been resolved satisfactorily within days of her decision to compete at Zurich.

The matter was, in fact, referred by McKiernan's agent, Ray Flynn, to the IAAF, the governing body for the sport, for clarification some time ago. They subsequently contacted BLE who maintain that the international authorities, on being informed of the athlete's refusal to give a commitment to run in the world cross-country championships in Belfast next March, backed the Board's decision.

"Our remit covers not just elite athletes but the 99.99 per cent who make up the sport in Ireland," said a BLE spokesman. "The IAAF awarded the world championship to Belfast as their contribution to the normalising of life in Northern Ireland and we believe it is incumbent on all our athletes to support that decision.

"When we contacted Ray Flynn in July, about Catherina's plans for that race, he informed us that it was most unlikely that she would take part in it, as it did not fit into her preparations for the London marathon."

He indicated that the next meeting of BLE's management committee was not scheduled until October.