ATHLETICS:JOE SWEENEY put some much -needed fire and spirit back into Irish distance running over the snow-capped hills of Edinburgh's Holyrood Park in Saturday's IAAF Cross-Country Challenge to suggest he is the man to rebuild flagging reputations.

The 25-year-old lone Irish challenger was pitted against a host of top runners representing the US, Europe and Britain but he got involved with the leaders from the gun, moved into a challenging position on the heels of the leaders up to halfway and while he eventually dropped back to finish 10th the run showed he had improved further from his victory in the recent National Inter-Counties.

Even when he lost his pitch at the front Sweeney kept fighting hard and finished ahead of some reputable distance runners, including the recent European bronze medallist, Youssef El Kalai of Portugal, to clock 26:29 for the 8.3km course. The nine-times European champion, Sergey Lebid of the Ukraine, was fourth.

In the end everyone who had a go at the front rank had to give way to the Britain’s highly-exciting star, Mo Farah, who motored away from his rivals to chalk up a most impressive victory in 25:41, relegating US star Galen Rupp to second place with a hard sprint on the big hill with the top Spaniard, Ayad Lamdassam, third, 14 seconds behind Farah.

On that form Farah would appear to have every chance of becoming the first British runner to win the World Cross-Country title since David Bedford in 1971. Farah, who has been training in Kenya, intends to go to a US training camp to join Rupp to prepare for that event which will be held in Spain in late March.

And if Sweeney continues to improve the way he has done over the last 12 months he can carry the Irish flag with some distinction there. On Saturday he showed courage in mixing it with the leaders moving between third and fifth places up to the halfway stage. He has come back from injury and other training problems to do the necessary work to make himself a proper distance runner and can go on to qualify in the 10,000 metres for the World Championships later this year and the Olympics next year.

“I was surprised at the way I ran because before the race I was wondering how many of these guys I could beat,” he said yesterday. “I felt as if I was coasting it for the first three laps but then had problems with the big hill although I felt strong again on the last lap. I took a break after the Europeans but my coach, Jerry Kiernan, said that was all part of the learning process and I’m very motivated at the prospect of winning my first national title next month.”

The Mulhare brothers from Co Laois, Michael and Dan, also showed their potential when they finished ninth and 12th, respectively in the 4.3km event which was dominated at the finish by three Kenyans, Eliud Kipchoge and the two Olympic gold medallists, Asbel Kiprop and Brimin Kipruto. Kipchoge sprinted up the hill for the final time to win going away by eight seconds.

European champion Jessie Augusto of Portugal could only finish 14th in the women’s event, a good way behind Linet Masai of Kenya.