Athletes have been flocking into London over the past few days, and the final track events before the Games have taken place.

Team Ireland breathed a slight sigh of relief when medal hopeful Derval O’Rourke recorded her best time in the 100 m hurdles at a track meet in Ligano, Italy. One might not be surprised by this, as the athletes have all been training hard for months – O’Rourke is exactly where she should be right now.

But it was a very different story at the beginning of the month, when O’Rourke withdrew from the 100m hurdles in the national championships on the 8th July. She suffered a back spasm, decided it best not to race.

As the weeks continued, and the pressure mounted, O’Rourke came back fighting, last Tuesday with a time of 13.02 seconds, the second fastest score at the track meet. She finished closely behind American Lolo Jones, who won with 12.85 seconds. But O’Rourke’s return to form and fighting attitude means she is now closing in on Jones, and has become her biggest challenge for the medal.

We’ll be watching this battles very closely when the two meet once agin on the Olympic race track.