Today sees the arrival of the first athletes at Cork Airport for the 66th Cork City Sports. Over the next week athletes from all over the world will gather in Cork for a spectacle of International athletics of a standard rarely seen in this country.

 

This afternoon sees the arrival of Barbara Pierre USA, world indoor champion and Ramon Gittens from Barbados, World Indoor Championships Bronze medallist and Pan American Games Silver medallist.

 

These are two of the most sought after sprinters on the athletics circuit today and they have accepted an invitation to compete at the Cork City Sports on Tuesday next July 18th at CIT stadium.

 

This is Barbara’s second time racing in Cork. Her last trip in 2015 was not so pleasant as she false started and was disqualified under the IAAF rules. Hopefully the Cork crowd will get to see her in action next Tuesday night. She is in stunning form at present having run 10.99 in late June in a meeting in Sacremento.

 

Ramon Gittens has been to Cork on two previous occasions. In 2014 he finished a close second in the 100m and in 2015 he won the same title in 10.22 into a headwind. He will have stiff competition in the 100m against a field of an extraordinary standard this year.