The sun briefly appeared just as Sarah Lavin took to the new blue track at the Morton Games in Santry and Lavin duly shone too, winning the 100m hurdles in 12.79 seconds — a new meeting and stadium record.
First out of the blocks and never threatened from there, it matched the second fastest of her life, just shy of the 12.71 Lavin clocked in Stockholm last month, an automatic qualifier for the Paris Olympics. Ebony Morrison from Liberia, an Olympic semi-finalist in Tokyo, was second in 13.10,
Not long after John Fitzsimons produced the second Irish victory of the night, the Kildare athlete winning a thrilling 800m with a perfectly timed kick some 50m from home, storming past Bram Buigal from the Netherlands to nail the win in 1:46.55. Mark English was a non-starter there.
Chris McDonnell also showed a welcome return to form in the 400m, the north Sligo athlete finishing strongly to nail second in 45.89 seconds, the win there going to Elian Larregina from Argentina in 45.75.
Ireland v England: TV details, kick-off time, team news and more
Italian sprinter Alessandro Ossola fails to qualify for final but has win with proposal on track
Ken Early: Manchester United fans losing patience as familiar flaws are evident again
Six championship matches, free to air on TG4, would be a gift from the GAA to itself
In the field events, national record holder Eric Favors had to settle for second in the shot put, his best of 20.14m just shy of the 20.29 winning throw from Britain’s Scott Lincoln.
In the Morton Mile, another sensational run by teenager Nick Griggs saw him improve his Irish Under-20 mile record to 3:55.73, the 18-year-old third behind Ryan Mphahlele from South Africa, the winner in 3:54.84.
