Road to Rio 2016 - Irish Olympic News

Cosmo Kramer · 25-03-2015 10:56pm

Similar to Dan Man, Dutch statistical company Infostrada Sports have started to run a virtual medal table ahead of the games next year. I'm not sure how similar or different their approach is to Dan's, but here is the link to it anyway.

http://products.infostradasports.com/documentation/vmt/

Currently they have us sitting on three golds (Taylor, Heffernan and McIlroy) but no other medals. Three golds from three different sports would be record breaking though so I'd probably settle for that now if I was offered it!

Dodge · 26-03-2015 1:09am

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Similar to Dan Man, Dutch statistical company Infostrada Sports have started to run a virtual medal table ahead of the games next year. I'm not sure how similar or different their approach is to Dan's, but here is the link to it anyway.

http://products.infostradasports.com/documentation/vmt/

Currently they have us sitting on three golds (Taylor, Heffernan and McIlroy) but no other medals. Three golds from three different sports would be record breaking though so I'd probably settle for that now if I was offered it!

Like Dan, they use world championships and world rankings. So Taylor and Heffernan are our only current world medalists and McIlroy is ranked world number one for Golf. Very fluid as the games approach

feargale · 26-03-2015 1:54am

[quote="Cosmo Kramer;94833749

Currently they have us sitting on three golds (Taylor, Heffernan and McIlroy) but no other medals. Three golds from three different sports would be record breaking though so I'd probably settle for that now if I was offered it![/quote]

There have to be a few others who could sneak in for bronze.

Dan man · 29-03-2015 1:15am

After both won by unanimous verdict tonight against Argentine opponents, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan are just one win away from Olympic qualification.
There is a slight added complication of the importance of margin of victory to look out for in their next match, but simply, if they win by unanimous verdict next time out, they will book their tickets to Rio

flynng · 06-04-2015 11:28pm

How many sports do ye think we will be represented by at Rio? London was fantastic in terms of the range of sports our competitors qualified for - triathlon, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, judo, badminton etc etc. Do ye think there will be any surprises for Rio on the horizon e.g. fencing, BMX, mountain biking, taekwondo?

Dan man · 08-04-2015 3:49pm

flynng wrote: »

How many sports do ye think we will be represented by at Rio? London was fantastic in terms of the range of sports our competitors qualified for - triathlon, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, judo, badminton etc etc. Do ye think there will be any surprises for Rio on the horizon e.g. fencing, BMX, mountain biking, taekwondo?

Here is my quick (very quick) projection on our qualification chances......

Sports in which we have already qualified quotas:

Athletics (2 quotas)
Equestrian (4 quotas)
Sailing (4 quotas - across 3 events)

Events in which we will almost definitely qualify quotas:

Badminton
Boxing
Cycling
Golf
Swimming
Triathlon

Sports in which we have a very strong chance of qualifying quotas:

Modern Pentathlon
Rowing

Sports in which I would give us at least a 50% chance of qualifying quotas (these sports were the hardest to categorise.....we have a decent chance to qualify 1 quota in them, but it's a precarious enough situation. Canoeing could potentially yield more than 1 quota for us, but again extremely hard to predict right now):

Canoeing
Gymnastics
Judo
Shooting

Borderline sports that we could qualify quotas for, but less probable than probable:

Archery
Hockey
Rugby Sevens
Taekwondo
Wrestling

I hope I haven't forgotten any sport off the top of my head.

Currently it seems as though we are unlikely to qualify any track cyclists directly for Rio 2016. This would be a big disappointment, particularly as it doesn't reflect the amount of progress we are making in this sport. This could change if one of our riders has a magnificent season next year (e.g. winning a medal at the World Championships) but there will be a chance we could claim 1 quota through invitation or reallocation of some sort.

ectoraige · 09-04-2015 12:04am

It's a shame we won't have a weightlifting entry, would have a real medal prospect in Clarence Kennedy.

feargale · 09-04-2015 12:13am

ectoraige wrote: »

It's a shame we won't have a weightlifting entry, would have a real medal prospect in Clarence Kennedy.

What's to stop him going to Rio if he's good enough?

Dodge · 09-04-2015 9:11am

feargale wrote: »

What's to stop him going to Rio if he's good enough?

Nothing. If he's good enough he'll qualify

Best of luck to him

Dodge · 13-04-2015 11:39am

2 men got the Olympic marathon standard at the weekend in Rotterdam; Mick Clohisey and Thomas Frazer. It appears the standard is quite easy (2:18) and we will definitely have a full team of men to enter

Dodge · 15-04-2015 2:31pm

Actually that's now wrong. The standards have been officially released

http://www.iaaf.org/download/download?filename=643c6a52-5447-42ff-a2f6-311b26a5b786.pdf&urlSlug=rio-2016-olympic-games-entry-standards

Based on 2014 performances, Ireland would qualify the following athletes (not many...)

Men
800m - Mark English
400m - Hurdles Tom Barr
20k walk - Rob Heffernan
50k walk - Rob Heffernan/Brendan Boyce

Women
200m - Kelly Proper
20k walk - Laura Reynolds
Marathon - 5 qualifiers!

Dan man · 15-04-2015 3:28pm

Dodge wrote: »

Actually that's now wrong. The standards have been officially released

http://www.iaaf.org/download/download?filename=643c6a52-5447-42ff-a2f6-311b26a5b786.pdf&urlSlug=rio-2016-olympic-games-entry-standards

Based on 2014 performances, Ireland would qualify the following athletes (not many...)

Men
800m - Mark English
400m - Hurdles Tom Barr
20k walk - Rob Heffernan
50k walk - Rob Heffernan/Brendan Boyce

Women
200m - Kelly Proper
20k walk - Laura Reynolds
Marathon - 5 qualifiers!

Alex Wright in the 20km and 50km walk also.

Our men's 4x400m relay team would also qualify based on 2014 results. Currently they are in a qualification position for the world championships in Beijing this year and I think they will make it to Rio also when the qualification process is finished.

gordongekko · 15-04-2015 4:30pm

Dan man wrote: »

Alex Wright in the 20km and 50km walk also.

Our men's 4x400m relay team would also qualify based on 2014 results. Currently they are in a qualification position for the world championships in Beijing this year and I think they will make it to Rio also when the qualification process is finished.

And we'll probably qualify a few more. Brian gregan, Paul robinson, ciaran o lionard to name 3.

Dan man · 15-04-2015 4:33pm

gordongekko wrote: »

And we'll probably qualify a few more. Brian gregan, Paul robinson, ciaran o lionard to name 3.

Yes, I think we'll have 20+ in the end (if we qualify a relay team).

Dan man · 16-04-2015 7:24pm

Some bad news to report today on the Irish Olympic front..... our judo hopeful and London 2012 Olympian Lisa Kearney has posted on Twitter to say that her Rio Olympic dream has come to an end due to a knee injury:

Unfortunately due to a bad knee injury my quest for Rio has come to a premature and abrupt end, thanks to every1 for the messages of support the road to recovery will be long but with an amazing team behind me I have no doubt I will recover

Very sad news, she had only recently a bronze medal at the IJF Grand Prix event in Samsun, Turkey

.
Wishing her a full recovery and all the best in the future.

gordongekko · 18-04-2015 8:12pm

Paddy Barnes is fighting in the early hours of Sunday morning. If he wins he qualifies for Rio.

Dan man · 19-04-2015 2:07am

gordongekko wrote: »

Paddy Barnes is fighting in the early hours of Sunday morning. If he wins he qualifies for Rio.

And it's in the bag, Paddy did the business tonight

Dan man · 19-04-2015 2:55am

And it's double success tonight, Michael Conlan won also and qualifies Ireland for the Olympics in the bantamweight division. Great night for us

Dodge · 19-04-2015 11:07am

Martin Fagan also got the Rio time in the Zurich marathon. We'll see what happens there

gordongekko · 19-04-2015 12:01pm

Dodge wrote: »

Martin Fagan also got the Rio time in the Zurich marathon. We'll see what happens there

The marathon looks like our most competitive division with regards qualifying times. Selecting Fagan would be a difficult decision but I suppose he's done his time.

Dan man · 20-04-2015 10:54am

19-year-old showjumping star Bertram Allen underlined his talent and huge potential for the future by claiming bronze in the lucrative FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas last night.
The competition was won by Olympic champion Steve Guerdat from Switzerland on a score of 8 penalties, just a single penalty point ahead of Penelope Leprevost from France and Bertram onboard Molly Malone V, both of whom finished on a final score of 9 penalties but the French rider claiming silver ahead of Allen on tie-break rules.
The event was run over 3 days of intense competition on a very testing course. Bertram actually led the field after day one, claiming victory in the opening speed competition, just as he did at the World Equestrian Games last summer. One fence down on day 2 dropped the Irishman back to 3rd place going into the final day which consisted of two further gruelling rounds of jumping. A single fence down in each of the final rounds was enough to get Bertram onto the podium in what was a very tough course, with clear rounds proving to be very few and far between.
Congratulations to Bertram, let's hope he and Molly can stay in top form between now and Rio 2016 and hopefully they can help spearhead an Irish team to Olympic qualification at the European Championships later this year.

Dodge · 20-04-2015 4:26pm

The 2016 European boxing Olympic qualifying event will be held in Turkey. Top 3 at each weight qualify

http://aiba.org/en-US/news/ozqsp/newsId/9320/news.aspx

Strazdas · 20-04-2015 10:45pm

Dan man wrote: »

And it's double success tonight, Michael Conlan won also and qualifies Ireland for the Olympics in the bantamweight division. Great night for us

That's great news. The Olympic boxing tournament is very difficult to qualify for.

Dodge · 21-04-2015 10:32am

Strazdas wrote: »

That's great news. The Olympic boxing tournament is very difficult to qualify for.

This time it's completely different and theoretically there's more opportunities for Irish fighters. At most weights we'll know 4 qualifiers by the end of this month through the AIPB and WSB

The next chance is the World Championships in Qatar in October. Top 2 or 3 qualify in most weights (only the winner at heavy and superheavy).

Then the European qualifier. Top 3 in each weight go through. There will already be a host of Europeans qualified at this stage (hopefully) so Ireland will be looking to do well here. I genuinely think this will help increase Ireland's representation at the Games.

Even after that there's a chance to qualify through the 2016 AIPB and WSB (Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward were close this year) before a final "world qualifier" where 5 more will go.

So even without the AIPB and WSB, Irish lads have 3 opportunities to qualify

For 2012 3 Irish qualifed by reaching the 2011 World quarters and 2 qualified through the European qualifiers. In some weights, that was limited to only 1 qualifer as so many Europeans had already qualified. That won't be the case this time

Dan man · 21-04-2015 11:12am

Dodge wrote: »

The 2016 European boxing Olympic qualifying event will be held in Turkey. Top 3 at each weight qualify

http://aiba.org/en-US/news/ozqsp/newsId/9320/news.aspx

I still have nightmares about the London 2012 qualifying tournament in Turkey..... I'm sure Joe Ward does too!

Let's pray we don't come up against any Turks again

Dodge · 21-04-2015 12:33pm

There's already 2 Turks qualified (at welter and middle). 3 Russians too. The more Europeans that qualify through WSB, AIPB and World Championships the better!

gordongekko · 21-04-2015 1:39pm

Can you qualify more than one boxer at each weight division?

Dodge · 21-04-2015 2:50pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Can you qualify more than one boxer at each weight division?

No. And unlike some sports, there isn't a quota in operation. The boxer qualifies, not the country

EDIT; Several boxers could qualify for GB as for Worlds England, Scotland and Wales can all enter teams. If 2 or more qualify they have to have a box off

The Rings The Flame · 23-04-2015 4:59pm

Clarence Kennedy lifting some impressive weights over on youtube. Can't link but his channel is well worth subscribing to for any Irish sports fans.

Dan man · 27-04-2015 1:04am

In dressage news, Judy Reynolds and her mount Vancouver K were in top form at the 4-star FEI event in Hagen, Germany this weekend.

Having qualified to compete in the Grand Prix freestyle after a personal best score of 70.700% in the Grand Prix on Saturday, Judy went on to set a new Irish record in the freestyle event on Sunday with a magnificent score of 77.775% to place 6th overall. This surpassed the previous Irish record of 77.725% held by Anna Merveldt since 2011 (on her 2012 Olympic mount, Coryolano).

It's another encouraging performance for Judy and Vancouver, whose graph is on the upward trend in recent months. It is also a vital result in the race for Olympic qualification with each rider's 4 best scores counting towards the Olympic ranking over the qualifying period.

Judy also believes that there is more scope for significantly improving her scores as she made some mistakes today which she will hope to rectify in future tests. If she can replicate her form here at the European Championships she will have a great chance of qualifying for the Grand Prix Special phase (Final).

Some additional stats:

Irish Grand Prix record: Anna Merveldt / Flash Dancer - 72.310% (Austria, May 1993)
Irish Freestyle record: Judy Reynolds / Vancouver K - 77.775% (Hagen, April 2015)
Best Irish performance at Olympic Games: Anna Merveldt / Rapallo - 11th place (Barcelona 1992)
Best Irish performance at the European Championships: Anna Merveldt / Flashdancer - 9th place (Slovenia, 1993).

Dodge · 27-04-2015 1:29am

If you missed it Tom Barr's first race of the year saw him qualify for the worlds and the Olympics at 400m hurdles

He's the first track athlete to qualify (to go with the walkers and Fagan in the marathon)

Dan man · 27-04-2015 1:51am

Dodge wrote: »

If you missed it Tom Barr's first race of the year saw him qualify for the worlds and the Olympics at 400m hurdles

He's the first track athlete to qualify (to go with the walkers and Fagan in the marathon)

It was a fantastic run so early in the year for Thomas. He's top class and could be seeing him in many top level races in the coming years.
The Olympic window doesn't open until May 1st but he'll definitely nail that many more times.

Breege Connolly also achieved the marathon Olympic standard today. So far we have 14 athlete quotas for Rio 2016.

The_Kew_Tour · 27-04-2015 8:52pm

Any chance we might get anybody in a Athletic final next year?

Of course still early days, but what about English in 800?

Dan man · 27-04-2015 9:19pm

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Any chance we might get anybody in a Athletic final next year?

Of course still early days, but what about English in 800?

Yes there are chances, but only with continued progress between now and Rio.
Chances, I would suggest at this stage, lie with Mark English (800m), Ciaran O'Lionaird and Paul Robinson (1500m), Thomas Barr (400m Hurdles) and the men's 4x400m relay.

However, none of those mentioned above are at that level yet, but with continued progress they have a decent chance of getting into Olympic finals. It will be a mammoth task without a doubt and can't overstate how difficult it will be for any of them to get into the final..... but at this stage, you never know how far they could progress from now until Rio.

Dodge · 28-04-2015 6:20pm

Former U.S. National Team Member Shane Ryan Looking To Represent Ireland At 2016 Olympics

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/former-u-s-national-team-member-shane-ryan-looking-to-represent-ireland-at-2016-olympics/

I’ve been given the opportunity to train with the Ireland national team and work towards possibly representing them in the Olympics . It was a tough decision for me but I’ve decided that this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I’m moving to Ireland in May and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve had such a great time here at PSU the last 3 years and I’m going to miss everyone. But I will be back in 2016, to swim for Penn State and to finish my senior year and graduate. If your ever in Ireland give me a call!

The 21-year-old’s best time in the 100 long course backstroke is 53.84, faster than the national record of 54.44 by Karl Burdis. He’s also a stellar 100 freestyler, with a 49.27 to his credit. That’s a tick faster than Ryan Harrison’s Irish mark of 49.49. His 100 back time is faster than the “A” cut for Olympic Games qualification, and he’s a few tenths shy of the “A” cut in the 100 free.

The Lost Sheep · 30-04-2015 6:14pm

Very interesting if Ryan gets involved in the Irish team. Would very likely qualify in two events minimum with those times. Would be great to see

Natalia Coyle going strong in World Cup event in Hungary by the sounds of things on twitter.
13th place at this moment in time
http://www.pentathlon.org/uipm-portal/public/results-qualifiers/126

The_Kew_Tour · 03-05-2015 6:26pm

Jenny Egan takes bronze medal at European Canoe Sprint Championships.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/jenny-egan-takes-bronze-medal-at-european-canoe-sprint-championships-1.2198676?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

omicron · 03-05-2015 8:19pm

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Jenny Egan takes bronze medal at European Canoe Sprint Championships.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/jenny-egan-takes-bronze-medal-at-european-canoe-sprint-championships-1.2198676?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Huge achievement but unfortunately a non-Olympic distance. However as far as I know she had a good result in the 500m (which is Olympic) on Friday so thats a bonus, should be in with a slim shot at Olympic qualification next year!

flynng · 07-05-2015 3:06pm

Interesting squad going to the European Games in Azerbaijan. Good to see Weightlifting, Diving, Karate and Archery being represented. Lets hope some of these athletes manage Rio qualification. Best of luck to all travelling.

Cookie89 · 13-05-2015 10:23am

Hey guys,

Just wondering does anyone know anything about getting tickets for the Olympics, most of the other countries have all held their draws for tickets?

Thanks

gordongekko · 13-05-2015 12:00pm

Cookie89 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Just wondering does anyone know anything about getting tickets for the Olympics, most of the other countries have all held their draws for tickets?

Thanks

For a free trip just run 100 meters in under 10 seconds

Cookie89 · 13-05-2015 1:22pm

Thanks , but don't see that hapening anytime soon I'll leave the qualfing to the other family members on foreign shores!!

finbarrk · 15-05-2015 9:47am

Cookie89 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Just wondering does anyone know anything about getting tickets for the Olympics, most of the other countries have all held their draws for tickets?

Thanks

The Olympic Council of Ireland haven't any agency yet for supplying tickets.
Cosport are at it in the UK. Next Tuesday morning they have some sort of a ticket allocation thing going on. I got an email from them yesterday.

The Rings The Flame · 16-05-2015 7:47am

Great result from Thomas Barr. 3rd in the 400m hurdles on his diamond league debut.

Dan man · 16-05-2015 10:21am

The Rings The Flame wrote: »

Great result from Thomas Barr. 3rd in the 400m hurdles on his diamond league debut.

He also secures Ireland's 15th quota for the Rio 2016 Olympics!

feargale · 16-05-2015 10:37pm

Rte1 right now. Brendan O'Connor talking to 3 Rio hopefuls.

Dan man · 17-05-2015 10:58pm

Alex Wright achieved the Olympic qualification standard for the men's 20km walk at the European Race Walking Cup in Murcia, Spain this afternoon.
Alex completed the course in a time of 1:23:35hrs, just inside the 1:24:00 Olympic standard, finishing 15th overall.

Brendan Boyce came through in 27th place in a time of 1:26:47hrs.
Brendan and Alex will likely be targeting the longer distance (50km walk) in Rio as it is without doubt their strongest discipline. Brendan has already bagged the Olympic standard this season and Alex will be hoping to make the time as soon as possible also. His personal best from last season of 3:51:28hrs was comfortably inside the Olympic standard of 4:03:00hrs so it is well within his capabilities.

Alex secured Ireland's 16th quota for the Rio 2016 Olympics!

gingerpele · 19-05-2015 9:16am

finbarrk wrote: »

The Olympic Council of Ireland haven't any agency yet for supplying tickets.
Cosport are at it in the UK. Next Tuesday morning they have some sort of a ticket allocation thing going on. I got an email from them yesterday.

if have uk credit card and uk adresss can attempt to get tickets from Co Sport (whatever is left after the draw) today.

THG claimed to be Irish agent again but no reply from them to my emails.

gingerpele · 19-05-2015 9:29am

Correction - the UK sale of tickets due today has been delayed indefinitely due to technical issues.

The Lost Sheep · 19-05-2015 12:10pm

Irish 7s rugby squad has been announced. Slim chances of qualifying for Rio but good to see Ireland having an international team for the first time in years
http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/34621.php#.VVsUmSzhTIU

All players are on professional contracts or play their club rugby in the top two divisions of the UBL league

Road to Rio 2016 - Irish Olympic News

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