After leaving her blocks prematurely and forcing the field to sit a bit and wait for the gun, Leevale's Ailis McSweeney ran 7.44 to place 5th in Heat 3 of 5 in the opening round of the 60-metre event. With the first four places in each heat automatically qualifying plus the next four fastest times advancing, McSweeney qualified for the Semifinal as a fastest loser. Emily Maher (Kilkenny City Harriers) ran 7.38, just .02 off her PB to place 4th in Heat 5 of 5. Maher, 24, advanced as an automatic qualifier. The top two finishers in the three Semifinal races along with the next two fastest losers advanced to the evening's final. Maher ran 7.37 to place 5th in the first of three races and did not advance. McSweeney, just 22, ran 7.42 to place 7th in the last Semifinal race and did not advance.

David Gillick, whose has been hampered by a series of injuries since winning the 400m gold medal in 46.17 at last year's European Indoor championships in Madrid placed 5th in the first of five heats in the opening round of the 400 metres. Gillick could never get going in his heat passing the 200-metre mark in 5th place with only Chon Kin Sou from Macau trailing him. The Dundrum South Dublin lad with a tightly cropped blonde coif ran 47.61 to place 5th and did not advance to the Semifinal.

David McCarthy competed in the fifth heat and appeared to advance as a fastest loser placing 3rd with a seasonal best 46.68. When the official results were posted, McCarthy moved up to second place automatically qualifying with American medal contender LaShawn Merritt disqualified. McCarthy, 22, had the sixth fastest time in the opening round.

UCD's James Nolan has been ridiculed for both his tactics and for not qualifying for the final in major championships. His critics can take the weekend off. Nolan, 29, advanced to Saturday's 1,500-metre final by winning the third or three qualifying races. Nolan's heat was the slowest of three leaving only the top finishers a spot in the final.

At the start of the first lap, Nolan appeared to decelerate into last position. He remained there for the three laps passing the 400m mark in 62 seconds. On the next lap, he made a dramatic move up to fourth position only to fade to seventh at the kilometre. With two laps to go, Nolan inexplicably made a charge in lane one but the move was squashed by traffic. In the straightaway leading up to the bell lap, Nolan burst to first never relinquishing the lead. He edged Moroccan Yassine Bensghir for the win in 3.44.67. A relieved Nolan marched off the track signaling with thumbs up to the Irish fans.

Complete Results for the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships