Stage set for Cahill's charges to make burst for the line

ATHLETICS

YOU PROBABLY saw the pictures this week of Sebastian Coe helping to lay the last pieces of turf on the infield of London’s new Olympic Stadium. For Lord Coe – to give him his official title – this was more than a ceremonious gesture: it was perhaps the most significant milestone for the man in charge of the London organising committee, and indeed he once ran the mile in 3:47.33.

Coe could afford himself a gloating smile. The 80,000-seater stadium is completed three months ahead of schedule and reportedly under budget — with the cost put at €550 million, compared to the estimate of €608 million. Not bad, considering our 50,000-seater Aviva Stadium cost €410 million. The Olympic Stadium also guarantees an unhindered view from every seat.

There are still a few minor details to be added, including the actual running track, which won’t be laid until later this year to avoid any imperfections while some inner furnishings are completed. But finishing the stadium 16 months before the Games begin in July 2012 means there won’t be any of the panic that shook the Athens Olympics in 2004, where they were nailing down the press seats as we arrived for the opening ceremony.

Unfortunately for London the stadium is drawing comparisons with the Beijing Olympic Stadium from 2008, when really there is no comparison. What the Chinese built wasn’t merely a stadium, but a marvel of engineering and imagination that no other country would have the nerve – or money – to imitate.

Nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, their 91,000-seater reportedly cost just €318 million, yet included an incredible 110,000 tons of steel, most of which was wrapped around the red concrete walls, and when lit up at night shone through the lattice work like an enormous red egg glowing inside its nest. At 69 metres in height and 333 metres in length it was, at least in the structural sense, the biggest sporting arena in the world.

The London stadium measures 60 metres in height and used a mere 10,000 tons of steel, making it the lightest Olympic area in modern times. It’s not exactly a masterpiece of architecture either, it’s only attraction really is its simplicity, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Outside, it’s a triangulated structure of black, steel struts; inside, it’s a simple bowl, free, at least visibly, of the corporate facilities and conference suites that engulf most modern stadiums.

It hasn’t yet attracted a nickname, which isn’t necessarily a good thing: “It’s like a bowl of blancmange,” wrote the London Times architecture correspondent, Marcus Binney – and it’s also been likened to a fruit bowl, or worse, a toilet bowl. It reminds me of a milk cup saucer, but one of the main reasons for its simplicity is the upper tier will be dismantled afterwards, turning it into a permanent 60,000-seater, with West Ham United already waiting to take up permanent residency.

What the completion of the stadium says most of all is the Games are getting tantalisingly closer, and for any Irish athlete even thinking of making it to London next year there really is no time to lose. It was with that in mind Terri Cahill summoned six of Ireland’s fastest women to Santry Stadium last Saturday morning, for the first leg (and pardon the pun) in the quest to qualify a 4 x 100 metre relay team for London. No Irish sprint relay team has ever qualified for the Olympics, but Cahill believes they can not only make London, but make the Olympic final – and she knows what she’s talking about.

In her younger days, as Terri Horgan, she was Ireland’s leading long jumper, and in 1992 set a national record of 6.48 metres, which stood for 16 years, before Kelly Proper jumped 6.51. More recently she’s formed one half of the husband-and-wife coaching group, known as Team Cahill, with her husband and former sprint hurdler Seán Cahill. Their prized student is Derval O’Rourke, along with Ireland’s fastest women, Ailis McSweeney, but Terri has made the sprint relay team a sort of personal mission, knowing full well what it takes to qualify for London.

They are unquestionably a talented squad, although O’Rourke, aged 29, and McSweeney, aged 27, are almost veterans compared to the other four: Claire Brady is 23, Any Foster is 22, Niamh Whelan is 20, and Joan Healy is only 18. They are truly representative of Irish sprint talent too: Brady runs with Celbridge AC, Foster with North Down, Whelan with Ferrybank AC in Waterford, and Healy with Bandon AC in Cork.

“If these girls make London,” says Cahill, “sorry, when these girls make London, we’ll be looking to run 43.5 seconds, even 43.4. Because they have that potential. So the goal, initially, is to get them qualified, this year. But if these girls qualify we should aim at getting them into the final. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility. If you look back at times that made Olympics finals, 43.6, 43.7 even, have made it. These girls can do that. Why not?”

My sentiments exactly. Last summer, at the European Championships in Barcelona, the team of Foster, Whelan, Brady and McSweeney ran 43.93, improving the Irish record, yet missing out on the final by one spot. They were under the 44.0 qualifying time for the World Championships in Daegu this August, where the quest for Olympic qualification may well be sealed. However, qualifying for London is a little more complicated: the best 16 teams in the world are invited, based on an aggregate of their two best times, come July 2nd of next year. So Cahill’s team will probably need to run around 43.5, twice, in order to make London.

“We’ve five races planned for this summer,” explains Cahill, “in the hope of getting the time, with a cushion. Some random country always comes along. We’ll have next year too, but we have to lay down a mark this summer. If they can run 43.5, or 43.4, that should rank them 13th, or 14th. The thing is Ireland is so well represented in sprinting right now, and we want to represent Ireland in London.”

Cahill has done her homework. Sprint relay times can usually be predicted by adding the four 100 metres bests, and multiplying it by .95 – to account for the changeover and running start of the later legs. The current bests of the four leading Irish women equals 43.8, but there is ample room for improvement if they can reduce the de-acceleration in the changeover zones to the minimum, and of course make the exchange as swift as possible.

“I’d have run plenty of relays for Ireland over the years. In the European Cup, for example, we’d meet up the night before. That was our preparation. And yet we still broke Irish records. So when I was asked to do this, my one condition was it’s treated like a serious event. And in fairness Athletics Ireland and the Sports Council have been 100 per cent supportive. Derval is fully behind it too; will spearhead it, really, and it’s great for the others to have Derval’s input, because we all know what she’s capable of at major championships.”

The morning is spent with Cahill overseeing drills designed to minimise time-wastage during the baton exchange, but also build trust within the team. It’s a bit like high-speed pass the parcel, but the prize at the end of it is now unwrapped, and when all 80,000 seats are full, running there might just feel like the best Olympic Stadium ever.