NATIONAL hammer champion Roman Linscheid kicked off his preparations for the Olympic Games in fine style in the US over the weekend when he was first of 56 competitors at the North Carolina Relays - the first of several events in which he is competing over the coming weeks.

Linscheid threw 69.85 metres to take first place which, although short of his best, is better than the distance he achieved in last year's national championship, World championships or World Student Games. He now moves on to California where he is due to compete the weekend after next.

At the World championships the Irishman was 32nd but he performed below his capabilities, while he was 16th at the Student Games in Japan and his declared target for this summer is to qualify for the finals of the Olympics at the end of July.

This victory represents a good start to Linscheid's preparations to achieve that goal and his winning mark is highly respectable although he would probably have to go about four metres further in Atlanta if he were to make it through to the qualifying stages.

The Meathman has decided to skip a trip by some of the Irish athletics team to Atlanta, intended to help them get used to the heat and humidity in the area, preferring instead to concentrate on his own training schedule which will keep him in the US for most of the next two months.

In June, Linscheid, who was based in New York for several years as a student, is scheduled to return home and he hopes to compete at the Europa Cup and Westathletic Championships, before defending his national title in mid July in Santry.