Olympic dilemma for Martin Fagan following Zurich comeback

Martin Fagan fully expected some degree of contention, and now here it comes: because in running 2:16:09 at the Zurich marathon Fagan has almost certainly qualified for the Rio Olympics – and quite likely divided opinion.

It’s still early days – or 474 days to go before Rio, to be exact – but, in what was his first marathon since returning from a two-year doping ban, Fagan has put himself at the front of the line for selection. His 2:16:09 (in 11th place) is comfortably inside the 2:17:00 qualifying standard announced by the IAAF last week, and it’s up to the other Irish contenders to match or better his time.

For now, the 31-year-old from Mullingar is on course to make his second Olympics, having run 2:14:06, in early 2008, to qualify for Beijing. Then, his quest to qualify for the London Olympics ended in shame when he tested positive for EPO, at the end of 2011, which resulted in a two-year doping ban.

It’s against that backdrop Fagan has put his name in the hat for Rio, although he admits now – as he did when returning from that doping ban – that’d he only consider going if he felt he wasn’t denying another Irish athlete the chance (each country can send a maximum of three).

Lot to consi

der "I would like to go, but there is also a lot to consider," Fagan told The Irish Times, shortly after Sunday's race in Zurich. "Like if there are three other guys, would I prefer not to go, with my past? I probably would feel bad

if I was taking somebody else’s spot. That’s still in the back of my mind. And I probably would be happy to give up that place.

“But then I think I would definitely go if there weren’t more than the three of us. And I definitely think there are a few other guys with the potential to qualify. I really haven’t thought about Rio too much. That’s down the line, but I know I will have to decide, when it comes to crunch time, if I am one of the qualifiers, if I want to go or not.

“And there have been a lot of times over the last year if I felt it was worth it, to come back. So I’m happy just to have finished this one, even if the time wasn’t what I was looking for. But I’ve had a lot of people around me, for support. And I’ve had a lot of positive feedback, personal messages, on my own social media, but again I’m not looking too much into that right now.”

Indeed, Fagan wasn’t entirely concerned about running under 2:17:00 this time, given he’d been suffering with a head cold all week, and never once felt his best during the race. “From the first mile I actually felt horrible. Very heavy legged. So it was a real grind, and there were points, towards the finish, when I was thinking it wouldn’t happen today.

“I was really struggling at one point, out on my own, and actually stopped to walk for a bit. The legs were actually okay, after the finish. I did have a bad last 5k. But there’s no injury, nothing like that. I’m already thinking of the next race.”

In the meantime, several other Irish athletes are eyeing up that 2:17:00 qualifying mark, especially the likes of Paul Pollock, Mick Clohisey, and Thomas Frazer; Clohisey ran 2:17:43 in Rotterdam last weekend, his debut at the distance, while Pollock ran 2:16:30, back in 2012.

Precedent

Should Fagan make it to Rio, he would become the first Irish athlete to compete at the Games following a doping ban of this sort. There is some precedent in that Irish showjumper Cian O’Connor competed in London 2012, winning the bronze medal, eight years after losing the gold medal he won in Athens after his horse, Waterford Crystal, tested positive for a banned substance. That, however, was deemed “therapeutic”, rather than “performance-enhancing”, while O’Connor only received a three-month ban.

There's no such uncertainty for Irish boxers Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan, who both secured their Rio Olympic spots after winning their bouts at the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in Maiquetía, Venezuela.