Brendan Reilly is preparing himself for a strange reunion with British high jump champion, Steve Smith on the opening day of the World Championships in Seville this afternoon.Less than a year ago, they were team-mates in the British squad which went to Malaysia for the Commonwealth Games. Now, while Smith prepares to wear familiar colours, Reilly is getting ready to don the green of Ireland for the first time.

In deference to the wishes of his wheelchair-bound mother, Flora, who hails from Portlaoise, and dad, John, a native of Belmullet, Reilly has switched allegiance to the country of his ancestry. And he's convinced that at 26, he's at last made the right decision.

"David Moorcroft (chief executive of the British Athletics Federation) couldn't believe it when I informed him of my intentions on the way back from Malaysia," he said.

"The cynics said I was taking the easy option by choosing Ireland. My answer to that is that in winning the Irish title at Santry last month, I cleared exactly the same height (2.28 metres) as Steve Smith did in taking the British championship the same weekend.

"The truth is that I'm doing it for my mam who, like dad, has travelled round the world to support me in big events like this. She wants to see me wear an Ireland vest in the Olympic Games in Sydney. And now that's the biggest motivation in my career."

Reilly was only 19 when he finished 13th in the Olympic high jump championship after turning down an opportunity to represent Ireland two years earlier.

As a 15 year old, he cleared 2.11 metres to win the BLOE title at Santry. The following year, he went over the lathe at 2.12 metres, an astonishing jump which not only gave him a second winner's medal but broke Brendan O'Reilly's national senior record. Even at such a young age it inevitably earned him a call up to Ireland's senior team for a Europa Cup meeting in June 1989. Coincidentally, in the same week he was chosen in Britain's squad for the European Junior Championships and there was some resentment when he chose to go with Britain.

"It was simply a matter of naivety, nothing more or less," he said. "I was young, living and training in England with Malcolm Smith and I thought that if I chose Ireland, I'd lose all my grants. I've happy memories of my time with British teams and fingers crossed, I'll enjoy myself even more with Ireland."

Reilly, a tall, lithe man with shoulder-length hair, fits the popular perception of high jumpers. A bohemian who stands apart from the masses, he's also a romantic, as he showed when proposing marriage to his girlfriend and Birchfield Harriers club-mate Sarah Oxley on the day of the recent eclipse.

"The day, I thought, was spot on for in the dark, she couldn't see me when I asked her to marry me. She's accepted and now the wedding's on for March 18th next."

The alliance is not without some significance to BLE for when they marry, Oxley, as the wife of an Irish citizen, could become eligible to sprint for Ireland. And with career best times of 11.51 (100 metres) and 23.20 (200 metres), both recorded in Cork two years ago, the acquisition could be significant.

The other Irish competitor in action today is Paddy McGrath, a hammer thrower with Raheny Shamrocks, whose story is no less interesting. Forced to toil in the slipstream of Roman Linscheid for so long, he pulled out the biggest throw of his series on his last visit to the circle at Santry four weeks ago, to win the national title for the first time.

It's given him the chance to build on the promise of his appearances in the World Student Games in Italy in 1997 and the European Championships at Budapest last summer. Now the man who works with children with special educational needs in the Bronx, New York is hoping to profit from the experience.

"This will be far and away, the biggest test I've faced," he admits. "But I've done the work in training, my confidence is high and with luck, I'm hoping to throw well."

McGrath, with best figures of 77.49 metres this season, has been drawn in the second of the two qualifying groups this morning when the men to beat will be Tibor Gecsek (Hungary), Loris Paoluzzi (Italy) and Andrew Skvaruk (Ukraine), all of whom have thrown over 80 metres in recent weeks.