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Young Athletes League 2006

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City of Derry sprinter Jason Smyth wound up his domestic season with a fine fifth place in the 200m at the Dublin International Games.

However, blustery conditions put paid to any hopes that the young man from Eglinton harboured of achieving a personal best time for the distance in advance of major dates overseas.

In the end Smyth had to settle for a 22.04 clocking – respectable but well outside his best.

The Irish Schools’ double sprint champion now faces an intensive five weeks at major championships in China and Holland.

First of all Smyth leaves on Saturday for Beijing where he competes in the World Junior Athletics Championships (August 16 – 20).

He competes in the 100m in which he is ranked in the top 50 in the world.

“Jason is in real good form but the quality at the World Juniors is unbelievable,” said his coach Stephen Maguire.

“Being listed 50^th going into the competition means that he will do really well to make the semi-finals.  In fact that would represent an outstanding performance,” concluded Maguire.

No sooner than he has returned from the Orient than 19-year-old will have to pack his bags again.  This time the destination is Holland and the city of Assen for the World Paralympic Championships.

Smyth plans to run both distances.  He already is joint holder of the world record over 100m and the outright fastest at the 200m distance following his double gold at the European Open Championships in Helsinki last August.

It will be Smyth’s first global meeting since qualifying for Paralympic competition following a strict examination of his poor eyesight twelve months ago.

Smyth will be joined in Beijing by clubmate David McCarthy who also signed off his season in Ireland at the Dublin International.

McCarthy who only turns 18 tomorrow was the leading Irish athlete in the 800m after crossing the line in third with a time of one minute 53.22 seconds.

Again times were affected by the conditions but McCarthy was pleased to have picked up the scalp of national U23 champion Eoin Everard who ran 1:48 this season.