Athletics/Women's Mini Marathon: Not for the first time winning the women's mini marathon came all so easily for Catherina McKiernan, her fluid stride and effortless rhythm again sending her clear around the streets of Dublin. Yet it's a rhythm she feels is still missing some beats on the track, and her quest for Olympic qualification in the weeks ahead seems far from sure of success. Ian O'Riordan reports.

After completing the 10km course in 33 minutes 46 seconds, McKiernan, though looking tanned and impeccably fit, admitted that her recent track sessions weren't going to plan. She'll need to run 31:45.0 for the same distance on the track to book her place in Athens, and right now that sort of pace doesn't seem to be in her legs.

"The times are just not happening for me on the track in training," said the Cavan athlete. "In fact, the track stuff is not going well for me at all. I just can't get any faster times for the intervals and they just do not add up to what I need to be doing to get 31:45.

"So I just can't seem to get it right, and when they don't go well it's very frustrating. Then you are going into the sessions tired because you have to do the work in between.

"Perhaps it's psychological but it's also hard to get a good day when the times might come for me. There always seems to be a bit of wind and you end up not knowing exactly what you are doing."

McKiernan has targeted the 10,000 metres at the Gateshead Grand Prix on June 27th as the one and almost certainly only chance of achieving the 31:45.0. The cut-off date for qualification remains July 3rd. Britain's Paula Radcliffe has also committed to that race and the pace is sure to be perfect, and yet McKiernan, now 34 and with her best of 31:08.41 set back in 1995, is not the most confident.

"Well, I have to try and give it a good try, and get to Athens," she added. "This is a hard call for me and when I did the standard for Atlanta in 1996 it was nearly a minute slower than it is for Athens. So that does not make it any easier but at this stage I just have to try and just do my best.

"I know the competition will be there in Gateshead and I don't mind that but the question is will I be able to stick the pace? I will try it simply because I have no choice at this stage."

Whether she makes Athens or not it seems likely that McKiernan will return to the marathon later in the year, but for now all thoughts are fixed on that qualification standard. Yesterday's run at least provided a decent workout, as she swiftly moved to the front following the starting pistol - fired by last year's winner Sonia O'Sullivan.

By the 3km mark she'd already opened a 30-metre gap in the small group of chasing athletes, with the majority of the 40,000 fun-runners still passing under the starting banner. Crossing the UCD flyover and heading back towards the finish at St Stephen's Green she did hit a slight headwind but still came home 49 seconds clear of Jolene Byrne, the American-born athlete now running for Ireland. Offaly's Pauline Curley, the winner of two years ago, was third in 34:45.

Her winning time was almost a minute faster than her second-place finish to O'Sullivan a year ago, and without any real opposition it did bring some satisfaction: "There was no real plan but that was the way I felt and that was the way it happened.

"The last 3km were hard and the wind was a bit of a problem, but I was gauging things from the way I would feel in training."

The wheelchair title was won yet again by Patrice Dockery in 30:48, and she continues on her build-up towards the Paralympics in Athens in September.

McKiernan, however, is not the only one having problems in her quest for Olympic qualification. The Irish men's 400-metre relay team, bronze medallists at the World Indoor Championships back in March, were also seeking Olympic qualification at the Bydgoszcz meeting in Poland at the weekend but their fifth place finish in 3:06.46 will need to improve significantly in the weeks ahead.

A sub 3:03 is the least they'll need to get to Athens, although this quartet of Rob Daly, Gary Ryan, Gordan Kennedy and David McCarthy probably wasn't at full strength. The win went to the Ukraine in 3:02.55, and the Irish team are currently 20th in the world rankings, with the top 16 being invited to Athens, and their next chance to improve comes at the European Cup in Iceland on Sunday week.

Also falling outside the necessary qualification mark in the men's 1,500 metres was Gareth Turnbull, who came up some four seconds short when clocking 3:40.44 at the Oregon Track Classic in the US.

Gillian O'Sullivan is Athens bound, but the hamstring injury which forced her withdrawal from the 20km race at the IAAF Race Walking Grand Prix in La Coruna, Spain, at the weekend is now a cause of real concern.

The world championship silver medallists lasted just 5km, and while her early departure was partly a precautionary measure, clearly her Olympic preparations aren't going quite as smoothly as desired.

Three other Irish walkers were in La Coruna along with O'Sullivan, and Robert Heffernan fared best when taking sixth in the men's 20km event in 1:20.55, his second fastest time ever. Olive Loughnane fell victim to the race judges in the women's 20 km race and was disqualified, while illness forced Jamie Costin to drop out of the men's race.

Women's Mini Marathon (10km)

1 - C McKiernan (Cavan)33:46

2 - J Byrne (Donore)34:35

3 - P Curley (Tullamore)34:45

4 - C Quinn (Beechmount Hrs)35:22

5 - S Gowran (Sports World)36:22

Wheelchair: P Dockery30:48