ATHLETICS: Forget the medal for one second - this has to be the most sensational, exciting, nerve-racking performance of these championships. Derval O'Rourke out there against the best sprint hurdlers in Europe - flying, fighting, surging - and then waiting, waiting, waiting. Silver medal - a shared silver medal. Incredible, but true.

Forget all that for one second - what O'Rourke has now proven beyond any doubt is that she's the most fiercely competitive Irish athlete in a long time, possibly of all time. She becomes only the sixth Irish medal winner in these championships, but pushed herself to new heights to achieve it. That's really what winning medals is all about, no matter what the colour.

But don't forget for a second what this means - O'Rourke getting in the medals at the European Championships in an event where Ireland has little tradition, and getting better all the time. There are no limits to what she can do, and that includes winning Olympic medals.

After a race like this 100-metre hurdles final it's hard to know where to begin. Nothing that happened in Gothenburg this week could match the drama trackside as O'Rourke awaited the official result. Finally, over two-and-half hours later, it was confirmed she would get silver, and so too would Germany's Kirsten Bolm. This time there would be no bronze medal.

Sweden's Susanna Kallur had handled the pressure of being obvious favourite, and won her gold medal in 12.59 seconds. Behind Kallur though, things were much more interesting.

O'Rourke, drawn in lane one after taking only third in her semi-final earlier, had run an awesome race and was definitely in the medals. So too was Bolm, possibly Spain's defending champion, Glory Alozie. Those three sat together on the track while in the photo-finish room they pulled out the old magnifying glass.

Then Bolm was named on the stadium screen as runner-up, clocking 12.72. Within seconds Bolm was erased and replaced by O'Rourke - also timed at 12.72, smashing her old Irish record of 12.85 seconds. Still the drama was only beginning.

All three set off on the lap of honour - Kallur leading the way, O'Rourke carrying two Irish flags and an Irish scarf - all clearly ecstatic with their medals.

Later, after they'd passed through the mixed zone, it emerged the German federation had lodged an appeal against the result, claiming Bolm was equally entitled to the silver medal. In other words, make it joint-second place.

The photo finish was sent to the jury of appeal, the medal ceremony was postponed until later today, and O'Rourke arrived at the medal-winners' press conference unsure if she had the silver all to herself or must share it with Bolm.

Later still, at 10.30 Gothenburg time, O'Rourke finally got word.

"Sure any colour medal right now I'd have been happy with," she said. "Obviously I hoped it was silver. I hadn't seen the photo finish myself, so I don't know.

"Obviously we were both guaranteed a medal. Kirsten is a good laugh, and she was joking there, saying they better not kick one of us out. But that wasn't going to happen. It wasn't her, though; the German federation felt they had to appeal.

"If I had come up second, and then third, I'd expect the Irish to do the same. So fair enough, I understand.

"I remember the European under-23s a couple a years ago, where I finished fourth. I was given the same time as third, and I was thinking months later that maybe I should have put in a protest.

"If I'd been next to Bolm I would have known straight away, but because I was away from her I just can't say. But you know, I did want the silver, especially if we're given the same time. I mean I think I deserved the silver."

That much is now certain. Just as in the world indoor 60-metre hurdles final in Moscow back in March, O'Rourke had defied all expectations. Yet this silver medal is sweeter still, given the groin injury that forced her to defer summer racing till July 1st.

Kallur, the one-time gymnast, had a best of 12.52 and was always most likely to win.

Bolm, the powerfully built psychologist from Heidelberg, has a best 12.59, and defending champion Alozie has run 12.44. Alozie could only manage fourth here, clocking 12.86 - and that confirmed O'Rourke had to run the race of her life to secure that medal.

"That's the thing," O'Rourke added. "I just didn't know what I would run. I just knew that 12.85 wouldn't be good enough. I knew I had to pull out something almighty. Although I did cruise through the heats, you wonder how much you really are cruising. I still had to pick off three or four metres.

"That's what makes this so special. Once I saw the result I got so emotional, because this was so much harder than indoors. I was trying to put a brave face on it, but there were seven weeks there when I couldn't train properly and didn't know if I'd even get to run the Europeans. You lose a bit of faith, and your confidence gets knocked as well.

"So to come here with only that preparation and almost win the thing, it had to be more mental. I mean physically I don't think I had that in me. I just really, really believe I can be the best at a major championship.

"I don't run the big Grand Prix races or whatever. I come to major championships because I believe you can win medals here. Medals are something you can hold forever, something for everyone to be proud of."