PARIS - 25th August 2003, special to Irish Runner.com by Dave Mervyn

For Belfast middle distance specialist Turnbull, 24, it was about being there and giving it your best. But what he gave in the first 1500m Semifinal surprised him. When he asked for more of himself over the final hundred metres of the race, he found nothing following a long season and excellent wins at the Cork City Sports and at the Irish Championships.

'I just don't know what it was,' he said afterwards, when responding to questions about his condition during the race. 'I felt absolutely fine before the race. I felt good, not just happy-to-be-there type of thing. I wanted my body to do the rest.'

'I thought, I'll get involved now down the back straight of the third lap but there was nothing there. Maybe it was similar to the first round. There I just worked to 1200m and was surprised when everyone was trying to score points in the home straight because we were all through.'

'I don't know whether the intensity has dropped since the Nationals', he stated, 'or whether it is just a number of tapering things over the last few weeks. I didn't make any mental mistakes, but physically, there was not a lot there.'

Atlanta-based Karen Shinkins was philosophical following her eighth placing in the third semifinal of the 400m last night, preferring to draw the positives from what was a hard lane draw and a game of cat and mouse. Well, cat and seven mice.

It has been confirmed that the European indoor bronze medallist will return to the United States in October but no decision has been made yet on her participation in the indoor season.

'It was a bit daunting,' explained the Newbridge sprinter afterwards, 'from lane one, you can see everyone and you always feel like you're chasing, chasing, chasing so it's hard to run your own race.'

At 22, Derval O'Rourke is the youngest female in the Irish squad. The Cork-born athlete was determined to show her best on the world stage but unfortunately her ankle injury, sustained in Poland last month, resurfaced as she burst out of the blocks from lane three in the 100m hurdles' heats.

'I felt okay warming up but the ankle hindered me. As I came out of the blocks I could feel it, but the problem was not being able to snap down off the hurdles with it. I can't run off them,' said the national record holder.

'It was important for me to come here,' said the Corkonian, 'I don't regret coming out here. It is just disappointing I could not do more.'