Paul McKee and David McCarthy continued their magical weekend in Birmingham. The World was watching as one-third of the 400-metre was comprised of Irishmen. Being St Patrick's Day weekend, it made for a quaint storyline for media outlets. McKee placed 4th running 45.99, the same time as the brnze medal Brit Jamie Baulch. The results were then reviewed and McKee was awarded the bronze. McCarthy, who won't turn 20 for four months lowered his PB to 46.61 and placed 5th in World!

Paul McKee ran the race of his life today in Birmingham to take a Bronze Medal at the World Indoor Championships and in the process smashed the Irish Record with a fantastic time of 45.99. There were some nervous moments for the Irishman immediately after the race when initially Britain's Jamie Baulch, who also clocked 45.99, was given sole possession of third place and it seemed McKee had missed out by mere thousandth's of a second. But following further examination of the photo finish it was deservedly deemed that McKee and Baulch had tied for the Bronze and so began the Irish celebrations on an historic day for the sport in this country. 19-year-old David McCarthy also ran a fantastic race, clocking a new personal best of 46.61 to place 5th - a tremendous achievement for a young man competing in his first World Championships at senior level. The 400m final capped an extremely successful weekend for the Irish team, who showed that in the absence of such established stars as Sonia O'Sullivan and Mark Carroll they are capable of competing with the best in the world. Thanks to Pierce O'Callaghan from AAI for this update.

Saturday, 15th March

1,500m
UCD's James Nolan ran 3.44.67 to place 6th in the 1,500 metre final. Congrats to James and coach Brendan Hackett - Noel Carroll would be proud. After the race Nolan said, "I'm very happy. When I was running 5 months ago I was in pain. I was 9th in the World on Friday and now I'm sixth after Saturday. It's all progress and my confidence is back."

Maria Lynch ran 4.21.44 in the 1,500m prelims (Heat 1 of 3) and placed 9th. The top 2 in each heat along with the three fastest losers advanced to the final.

60m Hurdles
Derval O'Rourke placed 5th (8.20) in the opening round of the 60m hurdles running in Heat 2, lane 6. O'Rourke (UCD - Leevale) advanced to the semifinals as a time qualifier. In the semis, she placed 6th in Heat 1 of 2 running 8.22 and did not reach the finals. O'Rourke was earlier disqualified from her heat, but was reinstated following a protest. O'Rourke set the Irish indoor record of 8.12 a fortnight ago on the Birmingham track.

The men's 4 x 400m relay did not run in the qualifying round due to injury (Ryan) and the fact that both McKee and McCarthy qualified for the 400m semifinals.

Paul McKee (Heat 1, lane 4) ran 46.24 setting a new Irish indoor 400m record. The old record was 46.34 set by Tomas Coman on 2nd March 2002 in Vienna. David McCarthy (Heat 2, lane 3) also ran a PB in the 400m semifinals. McCarthy ran 46.61 and will join McKee in the final. Two Irishmen in a World Championship final is brilliant and certainly bodes well for Irish 4 x 400m relays in the future.

Friday, 14th March

200 metres
Ciara Sheehy (Dublin City Harriers) ran 23.46 to place 2nd in Heat 6 in the opening round. Sheehy advanced to the semifinals where she placed 3rd in Heat 2 running 23.23. Sheehy set the Irish indoor 200m record (23.17) at this Birmingham facility on 2nd March.

Paul Brizzel and Gary Ryan have battled all season over the ownership of the Irish Indoor 200m record. Going into these World Championships Brizzel holds the record at 20.75 and like Sheehy, he set it in Birmingham on 2nd March. Ryan raced first, placing 2nd in Heat 2 running 21.07. Brizzel (Ballymena and Antrim) also advanced running 21.02 to place 2nd in Heat 5. In the semifinals, Ryan (Nenagh Olympic) ran 21.13 for 3rd in Heat 2 while Brizzel ran 20.96 for 3rd in Heat 3. Brizzel did have the dubious honour of being the fastest non-qualifier.

400 metres
Karen Shinkins (Dublin City Harriers) placed 3rd in Heat 2 of 5. Shinkins, the Irish record holder (51.58) ran 53.59.

Paul McKee ran 46.68 to place 2nd in Heat, automatically advancing to the semifinal, which will be contested on Saturday. McKee (Beechmount Harriers) holds the outdoor Irish record of 45.58 with an indoor Personal Best of 46.54 set this season.

David McCarthy ran 46.69, also placing 2nd in his Heat advancing to the semifinal. McCarthy (Celbridge AC) holds both the indoor (46.66) and outdoor (46.77) Irish Junior 400-metre records.

1,500m UCD's James Nolan advanced to the final grabbing the last fastest loser. Nolan, the European Indoor 1500m silver medallist ran 3.40.85 to place 5th in Heat 2 of 3.

3,000m
Maria McCambridge placed 7th in Heat 2 of 2 in the 3,000m preliminary round. McCambridge (Dundrum South Dublin) set a Personal Best running 9.03.68, a more than 6 second improvement from her previous best of 9.10.02. Like Brizzel in the 200m, McCambridge narrowly missed advancing and had the fastest non-qualifying time. Spain's Piedra Amaia advanced to the final from the first heat running 9.03.41.