From Track and Field News site
Athletics: Gillick hopes record run will 'open doors' to better things
By Cliona Foley
Friday July 10 2009
DAVID Gillick's brilliant new Irish 400m record of 44.77 seconds has not only boosted his confidence ahead of next month's World Championships but should ''hopefully open doors for me," he said.
Gillick had tried to get into the Bislett Games last Friday but was initially offered a place only in the 'B' race. By the time the organisers came back with an 11th-hour offer of a place in the 'A' race, he'd already organised to go to Madrid, where he ran the fourth fastest time in the world this season.
That milestone should increase his cachet to meeting organisers now but this problem of being unable to get into high-quality meets -- where you have your best chance to run personal bests -- unless you've already recorded fast times, is a real catch-22 for Irish athletes.
Gillick races in the prestigious Golden Gala in Rome tonight, where Roisin McGettigan is also in the steeplechase. And his experience of the difficulty of getting into world-class races has only heightened his delight at seeing Irish team-mates Thomas Chamney (Crusaders) and David Campbell (St Coca's) recording personal bests when third and fourth in a quality 800m field in Oslo last Friday.
"When are you going to see two Irish boys battle it out like that in a Golden League meet? That was massive and brilliant to see," Gillick enthused.
But Chamney has revealed to the Irish Independent that "the only reason I got into Oslo was because my dad rang up and begged them to take me.
"You'll get an agent with a big star who, on the back of that, can get a few more of his athletes into a meet," Chamney said. "But when you're like me, without the times and without an agent, it's a struggle trying to get into races."
Their personal-best performances in Oslo should certainly help open doors for both himself and his arch-rival Campbell, and the pair's 800m duel at Nationals next month (August 1 and 2) once again looks like producing one of the highlights of the meet, and could yet also extend to the 1,500m.
agonising
Chamney's 1:45.41 in Oslo was an agonising one hundredth of a second outside the 800m 'A' standard for the World Championships.
"My whole goal this year was to get used to 1,500m so I'm really surprised at my 800m time," he said. "The strength work I've been doing for the 1,500m has helped me in the last 200m."
Back at home, Dublin Board's graded meets next Wednesday will focus on 800m (men and women) and 3,000m (men only). Elsewhere, Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn), Ireland's rising schools 800m and 1,500m champion, won her heat in 2:06.47 to qualify for today's 800m semi-finals at the World Youths in Bressanone, Italy.
Meanwhile, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell will be able to test their world championship credentials against one another in Rome today.
World champion Gay and former world record-holder Powell were overshadowed when Usain Bolt won 100m and 200m golds at the Beijing Olympics.
Their clash at the third AF Golden League meeting will give them the opportunity to send a message to Bolt that he will have a fight on his hands in Berlin in five weeks' time.
"We have been talking about beating Usain since the Olympic Games," Powell said. "We want to win the world championships and we know what it takes to win."
