Given the outstanding performances of Irish women athletes on the international scene this year - Sonia O'Sullivan's double world cross country titles and Catherina McKiernan's London marathon victory - it is appropriate that the IAAF has designated 1998 as the Year of Women in Athletics, and BLE launched its Year of Women in Athletics in Dublin yesterday.

Athletics as a sport was only formalised in this country in the 1960s, and it is only now that women's place in sport is being properly recognised.

Among the functions planned for the year are a seminar on The Participation of Women in Athletics, where topics such as "Stress Management through exercise" and the "Changing Role of Women in Sport" will be examined.

There will also be an exhibition of photographs of the changing face of the sport, not just of its participants but also of the changing fashion over the years.