O'Rourke and Trammell take hurdles titles

MOSCOW, Mar 11 (Reuters) Derval O'Rourke became the first Irishwoman to win a gold at the world indoor championships with victory in the 60 metres hurdles today and Terrence Trammell added to the U.S.'s golden tally in the men's event.

In a tight race, O'Rourke just held off Spain's Glory Alozie to take the title in a national record of 7.84 seconds.

''There was no one girl coming here who I thought could beat me so I came here to win it,'' she told reporters.

O'Rourke, who has never won a major title before, said she was sure she had gold when she crossed the line but waited for official confirmation.

''I thought, 'What if I start celebrating and I haven't won it?' So I just sat there. Then I thought, 'Lap it up! How often does this happen?''' Swede Susanna Kallur, who had been unbeaten indoors since the 2004 world indoors championships, won the bronze as the top three were separated by just 0.03 seconds.

Sonia O'Sullivan was the only other Irishwoman to earn a medal at the championships when she finished second in the 3,000 metres in 1997.

Trammell's gold medal joins the bronze he won in Friday's 60 metres finals.

He needed the fastest time in the world this year of 7.43 seconds to beat Cuban Dayron Robles. American Dominique Arnold was third.

It was double Olympic silver-medallist Trammell's sixth race in two days.

''I've had a lot of races and I just tried to stay focused the whole time. And I tried to celebrate my bronze,'' the 2001 champion told reporters.

''The guy from Cuba ran a great race so I tried to run all the way through the tape,'' he added.

REUTERS KD VC2355