Athletics: Ireland's Olive Loughnane finished a creditable 17th place in the 20 kilometres walk final at the World Athletics Championships this morning.
In tough weather conditions, the Galway athlete was yellow carded in the first half of the race where the weather, although very hot, varied with showers and sunshine.
"I got two calls early on. That was frustrating because my plan was to start slowly and then push on hard . I couldn't risk that," said Loughnane, who came home in 1 hour 36, minutes.
Olga Kaniskina, last summer's European silver medallist, was a runaway winner in 1hr 39min 9sec. The 22-year-old Russian finished 33 seconds clear of team-mate Tatyana Shemyakina, this year's European Under-23 champion.
Spain's Olympic bronze medallist Maria Vasco tried desperately to overtake her 19-year-old rival, but had to settle for third position in 1hr 30min 47sec.
The last of the Irish team compete tonight in the men's 50km walk final. Both Jamie Costin and Colin Griffin will compete hoping to add to what has already been an excellent championships for the Irish team.