GLOUCESTER AC will have two athletes at the World Indoor Championships after a stunning performance from Irish star Rose-Anne Galligan.

Galligan, who is coached by David Farrow and regularly trains with Gemma Turtle in Cheltenham, earned her place in the Irish squad after smashing her personal best over 1500m in the Spanish Championships last weekend.

The 22-year-old's time of four minutes 12.72 seconds not only clipped over two seconds from her PB but more importantly was well inside the World Championship qualifying standard of 4:15.

"Rose-Anne had already beaten the Irish champion (Kelly McNeice) at the UK Champion- ships where she just missed the qualifying mark by 0.13 seconds and now she has the qualifying standard so should be in the team for Qatar," said Farrow.

"It was a fantastic run by Rose-Anne in Spain and to have her and Gemma (3000m) running in the Worlds is a terrific achievement for Gloucester AC."

Galligan did not have an easy path to her first major inter- national as she scoured the athletics fixture list to find a race in which to achieve the qualifying standard by the deadline.

"We tried several events but finally the Spanish authorities agreed to let her run in the heats, but not the final, in their national championships in Valencia over the weekend," said Farrow.

"So she whizzed out to Valencia under her own steam, sorted out her own hotel and didn't get there until midnight before the race.

"She then had to force the pace herself because the Spanish runners weren't particularly interested in a fast race in the heats so Rose-Anne led from the gun and did it all on her own. It was a fantastic run."