Five Irish athletes competed on the third day of the World championships in Osaka today. The undoubted highlight was that of Joanne Cuddihy in the 400m. All season she has been threatening to set new figures for the 400m and she finally did that today when she became the first Irish woman to dip under 51 seconds for the distance. Competing in the first heat she finished a creditable fourth and her time of 50.73 eclipses Karen Shinkins 1999 record of 50.07. It also qualifies her for the Beijing Olympics. Unfortunately she just missed out on a place in the final but showed that final appearances for her are not too far away. Roisin McGettigan and Fionnuala Britton both made it a memorable day for Irish athletics when they contested the final of the 3,000m steeplechase. The pace up front was hot from the gun and Roisin spent much of the race contesting 6th place but tired a little in the closing stages to finish 10th in 9:39.80, with Fionnuala two places behind in a time of 9:48.09. Derval O’Rourke clocked 12.91 for fourth place in the first heat of the 100m hurdles and qualifies for the semi final as one of the fastest losers. Michelle Carey finished 8th in the third heat of the 400m hurdles, less than a second off a qualifying place. Well done everyone. .