Cycling: Ciaran Power's remarkable Herald Sun Tour performance continued yesterday when the Waterford cyclist recorded his eighth top-10 finish in the world-ranked race in Australia. Power sprinted home in seventh place on the 189-kilometre 10th stage to Echuca-Moama, which was won by Dariusz Skoczylas of Poland.
In the overall standings, Power remains in second place but has inched closer to the yellow jersey of Canada's Mark Wohlberg due to a three-second time bonus. He is now just 12 seconds off the lead, although most expect today's 25 kilometre time trial to favour race leader Wohlberg. Power will then, however, have four road stages to chase the biggest win of his racing career.
Aidan Duff and David McCann continue to hold first and second respectively in the aggressive rider competition, while McCann conceded his lead in the sprints classification to British rider Dan Smith, who was third yesterday.
Meanwhile, in the world championships in Plouay, France, Philip Duignan and Tim Cassidy placed 44th and 46th respectively in the junior time trial. Geraldine Gill was 26th in the women's time trial.
Athletics: Sonia O'Sullivan is gearing herself up for an assault on the world five-mile road race record this Sunday in Loughrea.
After running 24 minutes 27 seconds in the BUPA Ireland Race at the Galway venue a year ago, O'Sullivan believed the record belonged to her. But closer scrutiny of the course revealed one of the downhill stretches breached the acceptable level allowed by International Amateur Athletic Federation rules.
Now on Sunday, despite the tiredness after her Olympic challenge which won her a silver in the 5,000 metres, O'Sullivan believes her batteries are recharged. She is ready for another assault on the record mark of 24 mins 47 secs run by Paula Radcliffe at Balmoral Castle in April last year.
Last year over 20,000 supporters lined the streets of Loughrea cheering on their sporting hero and O'Sullivan responded in perfect style by clocking an awesome time.
Shrugging off her Olympic efforts and any possible jet-lag problems, O'Sullivan said: "Anything is possible. You can definitely get a big lift from the large crowd and their support. People are so close they inspire you and I think at this stage I'm still happy, fit and running well. I had a decent training session at the track last night and its given me a lot of confidence going into the race.
"I believe I can go out there and run really well. I won't be holding anything back, I'll be using every ounce of energy - so we'll see what we get."
Meanwhile Mark Carroll has pulled out of the event. The European indoor 3,000m champion picked up a virus in Sydney which has called a halt to his season.
Tennis: A TV crew from French station M6 were ejected from the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich yesterday after organisers decided they had harassed Anna Kournikova. "They staked her out in the hotel," said a Women's Tennis Association spokesman.
Olympic Games: Squabbles between organisers and the Greek government over who has control of the 2004 Games have set off alarm bells in Greece and at the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
"It would be tragic to wreck the Olympics because of the current political fighting," Deputy Development Minister Alekos Kalafatis told a conference on the economic benefits of the Games.
"I would call for a four-year truce," said Jacques Rogge, the IOC vice-president overseeing the Games.
