Olympic 'A' standard met by Cork's Heffernan and Brendan Boyce:

World & OLYMPIC Class: Cork's Rob Heffernan

            Two Irish athletes qualified for the Olympic 50km Walk next summer in an international in Germany on Saturday, but there was heartbreak for another.

            World-class Corkman Robert Heffernan (Togher) came second in 3:49.30, well inside the 3:59 'A' qualifying time for the London Games. But it was not his experienced team-mate and 50km specialist Colin Griffin who joined him but Brendan Boyce (Letterkenny).

            Griffin (Ballinamore) was well on track to qualify but got disqualified just two kilometres from the finish and Boyce got the Olympic standard after finishing sixth in a personal best of 3:57.58.   The Donegal walker had achieved the 'B' standard for the World Championships but chose to compete in the 20km Walk at the World University Games instead, where he finishedin 15th place.