Jennings hands selectors a dilemma

ALMOST INEVITABLY it seems Catriona Jennings has handed Athletics Ireland with a major selection dilemma ahead of the London Olympics by becoming the fourth Irish woman to run inside the marathon A-standard – when only three of them can actually get to go.

The 31-year-old from Donegal – a sister of former Irish international rower Sinéad Jennings – went to yesterday’s Rotterdam marathon targeting 2:37:00 or better, and finished in a lifetime best of 2:36.14.

That actually ranks Jennings the second fastest of the four Irish women that now have the A-standard for London: Ava Hutchinson is the quickest of the lot with her 2:35.33 in Houston in January, while Linda Byrne ran 2:36:23 to win the National title in Dublin last October, while only last month Maria McCambridge ran 2:36:37 in Rome.

Jennings, like the other three, now faces a nervous wait before Athletics Ireland nominate their three athletes for selection to the Olympic Council of Ireland: what has been agreed in advance is that May 13th is the cut-off date for qualifying times for the marathon and 50km walks (and July 8th for all other events), with the three marathon nominations being announced on May 14th.

It’s still possible, though unlikely, that a fifth Irish woman might secure the necessary sub-2:37 – but what has also been agreed, and will clearly now need execution, is the Athletics Ireland selection document whereby if more than three athletes attain the A-standard in the one event, selection will be based firstly on quality and consistency of performances in 2011 and 2012; secondly, on statistical data (ranking/performance lists, etc); and thirdly, on history of performances at previous championships.

It will ultimately be up to Athletics Ireland and their international selection team, and makes for something of a bitter-sweet scenario, as for years they struggled to get a single A-standard in the marathon – with the establishment of the Dublin Marathon Mission clearly making the difference this time.

For Jennings in the meantime there can be great satisfaction in her Rotterdam performance: she now runs in the colours of Rathfarnham AC, and has been targeting Olympic qualification for the past year, and her victory in the women’s mini marathon last June the first real declaration of her intentions. She then ran a 2:43:08 debut in Dublin last October, and on the favourable Rotterdam course, always looked capable of bettering that.

“I knew that if I did the proper work that I could make it,” she said. “I put in eight weeks of very solid training and I was very hopeful coming here.”

Unfortunately the three Irish men chasing their A-standard of 2:15 fell short: Seán Connolly clocked 2:16:40, Gary Thornton 2:17:27, and Thomas Frazier 2:19:58

Back at home, Kenenisa Bekele suggested he was very definitely coming back to his best with a powerful victory in the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park, clocking a course record of 27 minutes 49 seconds for the 10km loop.

The Ethiopian double Olympic champion won by 59 seconds from Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem, with Italy’s Daniele Meucci third – with Mark Kenneally, our sole men’s London Olympic marathon qualifier, seventh in 29:23.

Britain’s Gemma Steel reversed her defeat at the hands of compatriot Charlotte Purdue a year ago in the woman’s race – with Linda Byrne best of the Irish in sixth, running 33:49, an also underlining her form ahead of London.

There was encouraging news in the IAAF Walking Challenge in Spain on Saturday evening: Robert Heffernan showed that his preparations for London are very much on schedule when he finished fourth in a good field of walkers, finishing ahead of a couple of high profile Mexicans in clocking 1:21.28.