Madrid - special to Irish Runner.com by Arran Hussey

The most anticipated event for athletics aficionados is no doubt the men's 3,000 metre final. But before we get too excited, the athletes need to safely qualify for the final - a task that has not proved easy even for favoured Irish athletes at recent major championships.

Alistair Cragg entered the European Championships with the fastest time (7.39.89) in the world and teammate Mark Carroll has the fourth fastest for European with his 7.46.60. Carroll won the event back in 2000 in Ghent and his experience could prove valuable to both himself and Cragg.

Cragg, 24 and already an Irish Olympian moved to the front in his heat, the first of two. The University of Arkansas grad looked relaxed and confident as he won the first qualifying heat in 7.54.91. Commenting on whether he would that tactic in tomorrow night's final he said, "Different tactics for the final? Well, we'll discuss afterwards. That's at least the pace we should be running."

Cragg, who was the front-runner for his entire heat glanced repeatedly at the large video display to make certain danger was not approaching from behind, and he crossed the finishing line in a near walk. Mohammed Farah (Great Britain) led the remaining runners in a PB 7.54.99, a time which on paper made the finish appear deceptively close. He calmly spoke about his race, "I didn't want to get stuck there with someone running 4.20 or 4.30 for the first mile, so I wanted to go out and get the adrenaline going. It felt good. It got my heartbeat going. Tomorrow we should expect a fast race."

Unlike Cragg in the first heat, Leevale's Carroll was willing to share the lead rather than take the role of unrewarded rabbit. He did so with Günther Weidlinger (Austria) who finished third in 7.54.94. Spain's Reyes Estevez won the second heat (7.54.63) with a sprint over Great Britain's John Mayock in the runner-up position in 7.54.83. Carroll comfortably grabbed the final automatic qualifying spot placing third in 7.55.18.

Carroll hinted about Saturday night's final stating, "Closing speed may not come into play as much as in other championships, especially if Alistair has his way which I think he will. Carroll plans to plot a strategy with Cragg to defeat Estevez, one that will hopefully see both Irish runners on the rostrum. Carroll continued, "We're going to do everything in our power to break him. We're talking about all out. We're going to leave here tomorrow night and we're going to know we couldn't have done any more. We're going to share it and we're going to do it together." Carroll, whose recent training has been geared more toward the marathon than the track said, "I'm more strong right now that I am sharp. I think 7:45 or so is the best bet for me. With Alistair, Estevez, Günther and myself, it'll be a real fight. Championships medals don't come easy."

A number of Irish sprinters were in action at the first day of the European Indoor Athletics Championship. Kilkenny´s Emily Maher was last in her 60m heat in a time of 7.60. Teammate Ailish McSweeney was also last but running in the fastest heat where all other competitors qualified through to the next round recorded a time of 7.44. McSweeney is less of an experienced international competitor than Maher and whilst frustrated to be the only athlete from her heat not to progress will still be pleased to have run only 0.05 outside her personal best. Maher, who came to prominence in 1998 at the World Youth Games, will take less comfort from the day's events. Jer O'Donoghue was 6th home out of 7 starters in the men's 60m. His time of 6.83 was again less then 0.07 outside his PB and he too will gain from the experience.

UCD student Deirdre Ryan has failed to progress in the high jump. She cleared 1.78m and 1.83 on her first attempts before missing all three tries at 1.88. Ryan who is pursuing a Master's degree in business has recently set the Irish record of 1.90m but would have need to better that to 1.92m in order to advance to the final.

An unexpected bright spot on the day was Dundrum South Dublin's David Gillick in the 400m event. He set a new PB in winning the first of three semifinals. Gillick ran 46.17 which bettered both his indoor and outdoor bests. Gillick told Irishrunner.com "I'm chuffed to get a PB! That was the first race this season where I've been pushed by someone. Everyone in the final is beatable. I want to get a medal." Gillick achieved this feat despite losing the early lead to Hungary's Zsolt Szeglet. The 21-year-old ran the fastest time of the day and was awarded with lane 5 for the final.

Fellow 400m runner David McCarthy did not make it through to the final. McCarthy said, "I was hoping I'd come good but I missed three weeks before the championship with a sprained ankle." McCarthy was 4th in his semifinal in a time of 47.36 seconds. Rob Daly ran was third in the last semifinal and said he was relatively happy with his time of 47.53 which was a season's best. He had like McCarthy lost training term earlier in the season with Achilles trouble.

An out of sorts James Nolan failed to qualify for the final of the 1,500 metres to be held on Sunday. The UCD Olympian finished 9th in a time of 3.46.50, someway outside his best, Nolan seemed hampered when running near the taller figure of Miro Formela. The barging with the Pole was an unhelpful distraction but notwithstanding this the Offaly man seemed to lack his usual edge.

Roísín McGettigan was 9th in her 1,500m qualifying heat and did not qualify for the next round. McGettigan ran 4.35.04 on what was her championship debut.

2005 Madrid European Indoor Athletics Championships website