IT APPEARS THAT Derval O’Rourke’s qualification for the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles at the Athletics World Championships didn’t come without a significant physical cost.
After running impressively in her qualifying heat to finish second to Australia’s Sally Pearson, the favourite to take the gold medal, the Leevale native sustained a calf injury that made her participation in the semi-final impossible.
As reported by RTÉ’s Brendan Cole, Athletics Ireland claimed the O’Rourke had “tested [the calf] during warm-up today for the semi-final but as it was not 100% she made the decision to withdraw.”
The news comes in the wake of the Colin Griffin’s disqualification from the 50km walk earlier this morning.
In contrast to her disconsolate teammates, who must now refocus ahead of next year’s Olympic Games, Dundrum’s Deirdre Ryan will be extremely pleased with her performance in the women’s high jump. The Dundrum woman followed up her Irish record-setting performance in the qualifying round with another solid evening’s jumping to take a share of sixth place in the final.
Her jump of 1.93m was only ten centimetres shy of the mark reached by gold and silver medallists Anna Chicherova and Blanka Vlašic.
