THE IRISH TIMES Thursday, June 28, 2001 Ian O'Riordan Mark Carroll is confident that he can comfortably achieve a World Championship qualifying time when he competes over 5,000 metres at the Rome Grand Prix this evening, the first of the seven IAAF Golden League meetings. The Cork athlete is still seeking his place on the Irish team for Edmonton, and this is certainly the race to do it. The field is headed by Olympic champion Million Wolde of Ethiopia and will actually serve as the trial for the Ethiopian team. Recent Kenyan champion Richard Limo and Europe's top runner Mohammed Mourhit of Belgium are also in the line-up. Carroll is targeting a time well below the A-standard of 13 minutes 25 seconds, and having delayed his appearance in Europe this season, he feels his preparations have been even better than expected. With 37 Olympic medallists from last years Sydney Games among the start lists - including Marion Jones and Maurice Greene - Rome is set to provide the first big test for the contenders at the World Championships in August. Other Irish interest will be in Sinead Delahunty in the 1,500 metres and Una English in the 3,000 metres, where the field includes Gabriela Szabo of Romania. Meanwhile, the men's 800 metres is gearing up to be one of the top races in this evening's Dublin International meeting in Santry. National champion James Nolan, national record holder David Matthews and the in-form Daniel Caulfield lead the hopes of an Irish win. Eamonn Condon www.RunnersGoal.com
