Ireland's entrants for the women's 5,000 metres at the Olympic Games in Sydney next month were confirmed yesterday and the news for Dublin's Una English and Maria McCambridge - both of whom had achieved A standards this year - is not good, writes Ian O'Riordan.
Sonia O'Sullivan, Breda Dennehy-Willis and Rosemary Ryan have each been given the nod by the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), with O'Sullivan and Dennehy-Willis also selected for the 10,000 metres. O'Sullivan is the fastest of the qualifiers with her 15:10.24 in Australia earlier this year while Dennehy-Willis is just behind her with 15:12.83, a time achieved in Hechtel two weeks ago.
Ryan is next fastest with 15:17.57, also clocked in Hechtel, enough to displace McCambridge (15:18.78) and English (15:31.93) - both of whom are still inside the A standard of 15:35.00. Each country is allowed a maximum of three competitors per event at the Olympics, although O'Sullivan has yet to confirm which event she will concentrate on - a decision expected to be made after this weekend's National championships. If she decides solely on the 10,000 metres, then either McCambridge or English will get the call-up, a decision which will rest with the OCI selectors.
Templemore's Tomas Coman, qualified as part of the Irish 4x400 metre team, will also be entered for the individual 400 metres. Coman has the Bstandard for Sydney and is also the fastest of the six athletes chosen for the relay team.
The Irish Sports Council also announced yesterday that an extra £80,000 has been granted to the OCI to fund their Olympic training camps in Australia. It brings the Sports Council's total funding for the two camps - situated at Newcastle and Grafton, two hours north of Sydney - to £244,400.
Athletics: Australia's javelin gold medal hope Louise Currey was taken from Sydney's Olympic Stadium on a stretcher yesterday with a knee ligament injury.
Currey, the 1996 Olympic silver medallist who is ranked two in the world behind Norway's Trine Hattestad, won the national championship with her second throw of 63.59 metres but broke down on her next attempt.
Australian team doctor Chris Bradshaw said it looked to be a "very serious injury" although a scan would reveal more.
Currey's Australian rival Joanna Stone, a silver medallist in the 1997 world championships, aggravated a rib injury and is also in some doubt for the Games.
Stone was second to Currey with a throw of 52.86, putting both straight into the Olympic team, fitness permitting.
Cycling: Frenchman Emmanuel Magnien failed a random dope test for corticoids during the Tour de France and will miss the Olympics, the French cycling federation said.
Magnien, who rides for the Francaise des Jeux team, took cortico-steroids to cure an allergy and had a prescription for the drug.
But he received an injection for it when the International Cycling Union (UCI) rules only allow for corticoids to be taken orally or as creams. "There was obviously no intention to cheat," said French cycling federation chief Daniel Baal.
Surfing: A 16-strong Ireland squad will compete in the European Junior Championships in Jersey, which start today. US-based Brendan Gannon, who was born in Cork but now lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida is Ireland's best prospect of a medal; he is ranked third in the East Coast Championships in the US.
The Ireland squad was picked following the Irish Junior Championships last weekend at Rossnowlagh in Donegal.
Sport on TV: The IRFU yesterday finalised a contract with RTE which will allow them broadcast a total of 39 live international rugby matches over the next two years. While principally focusing on the Six Nations Championship, RTE will also screen all major incoming tours to Ireland including the visits of Japan and South Africa in November.
In addition domestic rugby will also feature with the network committed to showing a minimum of six AIB league games each season as well as featuring extensive highlights of the weekend's league action on Sunday Sport. RTE have also successfully negotiated the coverage of Munster and Leinster in the European Cup beginning in October.
Cycling: If the rumour mill of transfers is to be believed, Ciaran Power's Linda McCartney team is about to move a step closer to their goal of competing in the Tour de France. Sources within cycling suggest that the British outfit have coaxed Lance Armstrong's faithful lieutenant Kevin Livingston from the US Postal team, with Vitalicio's Juan Carlos Dominguez and Denmark's Nicki Sorensen also in advanced negotiations. The purchasing of highly-ranked riders is crucial to the graduation of the squad to the first division.
Power himself has not yet signed a contract for next season, but the team are thought to be keen to retain his services after his strong debut this year.
