The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

By David Thorpe

It was a case of so near yet so far for Irish athletes at the World Athletic Championships in Osaka last week.

Sprinting star Paul Hession ran in the second-fastest semi-final in the event’s history and finished just behind the American Tyson Gray, the favourite to win the event.

Hession was the 12th fastest man in the world this year but still missed out on a qualification spot. However that will place the sprinter in a good position for the Olympics next year when a slight improvement from him would surely secure a place in the final.

David Gillick, the European Champion from 2005, was also unlucky to miss out on a place in the final. He ran almost a second below his best time and his second place in his semi-final wasn’t enough to secure a place in the final.

He said: “In some ways it’s heartbreaking to have come so close and to have been unlucky enough to be running in such a tough heat but at the same time I ran a good bit below my Irish record time and that would not normally be enough in an event of this quality.

“The fact that I have broken three Irish records in three different events this year shows that I am still improving and if I keep working hard I can improve a bit more in time for the Olympics.”

The only athlete who ran appreciably below her best at the World Championships was Derval O’Rourke. The Cork athlete travelled to Japan as a genuine medal contender but failed to reach the finals of the 100m hurdles with a run massively slower than her quickest time.

Speaking afterwards she said she was “disgusted” with how she had performed.

She said: “I have worked hard to get to this stage and have been improving steadily over the last year but none of that improvement came out in these Championships. It feels like being back at square one.”

While there is considerable disappointment that another major athletics Championships finished without a medal the performance of all three runners shows that they are not far off the world’s best.

All three have youth on their side, have won medals at European level and have been improving consistently, meaning that by the time the Beijing Olympics roll around next Autumn Irish sports fans in Britain and across the world will have some genuine medal contenders to cheer on.