The first weekend of the World Athletics Championships saw Edmonton sheathed in buttery sunshine. Whilst the Track and Field family untangled itself from another sticky EPOch, Germany's Old Woman, who lived in a Shoe, found her million making cocktail to be spiked. And laced with hypocrisy, that is fast rendering the IAAF hamstrung to shouts from as far afield as lane eight.

Templemore's Tomás Coman was eliminated in the heats of the 400m, after clocking a seasonal best of 45.90secs. With the first three of each heat and three fastest losers progressing, the 21-year-old had stiff competition in heat one of seven on Saturday morning. Avard Moncur of Bahamas won in a time of 44.88 with La Grange of South Africa in second and the Pole, Robert Mackowiak beaten into third. Jorge Oliveira of Brazil qualified as a fastest loser with a season's best of 45.47.

Coman, whose reaction time off the blocks was 0.182, the third slowest, was disappointed, but upbeat about the remainder of his Championships explaining, "I couldn't sustain it in the last 100 and tied up quite badly. I'm still focused on the Irish record [set by Derek O'Connor in 1986 of 45.73]. Three of the Irish 4 x 400 are running similar times, so we can look forward to the relays next weekend now."

Coman's relay teammate Tom Comyns, also based in Limerick at the NTC, watched the race from his Castletroy home and told irishrunner.com, "I was on the phone to Tomás after the race, he was happy to finish under the 46. Considering that he was placed in quite a hard heat and the fact that he missed most of May, he is pleased with his start to the Championships." On the subject of the relay squad, Comyns added, "The facilities are great out there so I am told. The rest of the relay team head out Monday. We will have one or two sessions a day during the week, mainly consisting of warm-ups so we will be relaxed and well prepared for the race next Saturday."

A brave performance by 28-year-old Daniel Caulfield of Dublin City Harriers was not enough in heat two of five, of the 800 metres qualifiers. Drawn against five quicker men, he struck out hard and barraged his way to a lead position alongside eventual winner, Kenyan Wilfred Bungei, with 300 metres remaining. Bearing down on his best time of the year, Caulfield faded in the back straight as Czapiewski of Poland surged past to 1.45.57 and Dutchman Bram Som claimed a fastest loser spot. The Irishman clocked 1.47.23 back in fourth place, way below his PB of 1.46.65, achieved at Gateshead, almost a year ago.

Shortly after the stadium clock struck ten to four, the men's 20K field waddled out of our sights. Togher man Robert Heffernan turned in a gritty performance as nine athletes were disqualified and four, including the German pairing of Andreas Erm and Andre Hohne, failed to complete the course. Roman Rasskazov of Russia, a former World Junior champion, struck gold as countrymen Ilya Markov and Viktor Burayev left the podium celebrations with an aftertaste of vodka. The top three entered the stadium together and finished within five seconds of each other. Heffernan placed a credible fourteenth, in a time of 1.25.02.

A long way off his personal best of 1.21.11, set in Royal Leamington at the end of April 2001, yet he managed to knock a minute off his time clocked in Sydney (where he finished 28th). Only one of the twenty-four finishers could post a PB or SB, that being Spain's David Marquez, back in fifth.

Day Three (Sunday) saw student Karen Shinkins compete in the 400m heats. Racing in heat five of six, Shinkins qualified comfortably for the Monday's semifinals. Using Grit Breuer, the heat winner in lane eight, as a marker, the national record holder clocked an impressive 51.37, the third fastest time she has ever run.

With the record in her sights, former coach Jim Kilty was heartened by her display. "Karen has done it before at major championships. At Seville '99, and in the Student Games, where she set the national record of 51.07. I'm very pleased with her form. Her split was a respectable 24.9 and I know she is quite capable of going faster." He added, "Between now and tomorrow, she will just rest up. Focusing on the task at hand and loading up on carbohydrates. It's very encouraging to see her get through to the semis, as I believe that this is the most open 400m for quite some time. With Cathy Freeman gone, it's hard to look for a possible winner, but I believe that either Breuer of Germany or Mexico's Ana Guevara have what it takes."

His advice for Karen would be 'to eliminate the others and try to position herself among the top four or five on the last bend. From there, it's down to strength and stamina.' With the lane draw of number two in semi-final one, she certainly has a chance of making the last eight in the World. Breuer posted the quickest time of the heats in the Newbridge girl's race, with American Monique Hennegan .25 secs ahead of Shinkins.