Irelands most likely Olympic 2012 Medals

Dan man

Table updated after today's action in Belgium at the women's Olympic qualifiers.

Here are the fixtures for that Olympic qualifying tournament in Knotich, Belgium. The fixtures will be played over the week 17th-25th March:

Date and Time|Fixtures
17/03/2012 (Sat.10:00)|Spain 7-0 Mexico
17/03/2012 (Sat.12:30)|IRELAND 5-1 France
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:00)|Belgium 4-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|Spain 2-1 France
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|IRELAND 3-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Mexico 0-12 Belgium
20/03/2012 (Tue.12:00)|Mexico v IRELAND
20/03/2012 (Tue.14:30)|Russia v France
20/03/2012 (Tue.17:00)|Belgium v Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia v Mexico
22/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|IRELAND v Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|France v Belgium
24/03/2012 (Sat.09:00)|France v Mexico
24/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Spain v Russia
24/03/2012 (Sat.17:00)|Belgium v IRELAND
25/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|5th v 6th
25/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|3rd v 4th
25/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|1st v 2nd (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Belgium|2|0|0|16|0|+16|6
Spain|2|0|0|9|1|+8|6
IRELAND|2|0|0|8|1|+7|6
France|0|0|2|2|7|-5|0
Russia|0|0|2|0|7|-7|0
Mexico|0|0|2|0|19|-19|0

KevinK

Just want to say that I am loving this thread. Thanks for all the hard work.

Dan man

UPDATE: The Irish women's team secured a famous victory today to knock the former Olympic champions Spain out of the qualifying tournament in Belgium. This ensures an Olympic play-off showdown with the hosts Belgium on Sunday with a place at the Olympics up for grabs for the winners. The two sides will meet in Saturday for a pool match to finish procedures in the group stages before the real test 24 hours later. We should be very proud of our hockey teams for their performancse over the last fortnight, they have been nothing short of exceptional.

Date and Time|Fixtures
17/03/2012 (Sat.10:00)|Spain 7-0 Mexico
17/03/2012 (Sat.12:30)|IRELAND 5-1 France
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:00)|Belgium 4-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|Spain 2-1 France
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|IRELAND 3-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Mexico 0-12 Belgium
20/03/2012 (Tue.12:00)|Mexico 0-5 IRELAND
20/03/2012 (Tue.14:30)|Russia 3-2 France
20/03/2012 (Tue.17:00)|Belgium 1-0 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia 5-1 Mexico
22/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|IRELAND 3-2 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|France 0-4 Belgium
24/03/2012 (Sat.09:00)|France v Mexico
24/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Spain v Russia
24/03/2012 (Sat.17:00)|Belgium v IRELAND
25/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|France v Mexico 5th/6th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|Spain v Russia 3rd/4th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Belgium v IRELAND (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Belgium|4|0|0|21|0|+21|12
IRELAND|4|0|0|16|3|+13|12
Spain|2|0|2|11|5|+6|6
Russia|2|0|2|8|10|-2|6
France|0|0|4|4|14|-10|0
Mexico|0|0|4|1|29|-28|0

Dan man

KevinK wrote: »

Just want to say that I am loving this thread. Thanks for all the hard work.

Thanks Kevin, much appreciated.

lizzybradbury

I agree about the equestrian medals; should get a few as we have some pretty good riders.

Dodge

if ireland beat Spain tomorrow, it means they're guarenteed to play Belgium in the play off (with a round robin game to go).

Lose to Spain, but beat Belgium and it all goes down to goal difference between the 3.

Dodge

Ireland beats Spain 3-1. Guarantees them a play off with Belgium for the Olympic spot on Sunday.

Dodge

RTE are showing the hockey qualifier final on Sunday on RTE 1

Dan man

A hugely disappointing day for our women's hockey team losing their Olympic play-off match with Belgium 4-1. The result means that we will have no representation in hockey or indeed any team sports at London 2012. Despite today's bad result, both men's and women's hockey teams have done exceptionally well and can be proud of their achievements. Remember, only 12 teams will go on to compete in the Olympic hockey tournament, so to have come so close to qualification is a great achievement despite the ultimate heart-break. I really hope they can kick on from these strong performances and keep the flag flying for Ireland on the competitive stage.


Date and Time|Fixtures
17/03/2012 (Sat.10:00)|Spain 7-0 Mexico
17/03/2012 (Sat.12:30)|IRELAND 5-1 France
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:00)|Belgium 4-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|Spain 2-1 France
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|IRELAND 3-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Mexico 0-12 Belgium
20/03/2012 (Tue.12:00)|Mexico 0-5 IRELAND
20/03/2012 (Tue.14:30)|Russia 3-2 France
20/03/2012 (Tue.17:00)|Belgium 1-0 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia 5-1 Mexico
22/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|IRELAND 3-2 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|France 0-4 Belgium
24/03/2012 (Sat.09:00)|France 5-4 Mexico
24/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Spain 1-1 Russia
24/03/2012 (Sat.17:00)|Belgium 1-1 IRELAND
25/03/2012 (Sun.10:30)|France 5-1 Mexico 5th/6th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.13:00)|Spain 5-1 Russia 3rd/4th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.15:30)|Belgium 4-1 IRELAND (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Q Belgium|4|1|0|22|1|+21|13
Q IRELAND|4|1|0|17|4|+13|13
Spain|2|1|2|12|6|+6|7
Russia|2|1|2|9|11|-2|7
France|1|0|4|9|18|-9|3
Mexico|0|0|5|5|34|-29|0

Dan man

Irish swimmer Grainne Murphy has swam her best time so far this season in her favoured event the 800m freestyle at the Danish National Championships. Her time of 8:29.55mins beats her previous 2012 best by 3 seconds (set at the British nationals). Whilst it is encouraging to see her get quicker, she is still some 4 seconds short of her best time set back in 2010 and she will need to be sub 8:25mins to be in with a reasonable chance of making an Olympic final. Nonethless, her time is in the top 5 in the world so far this year so with solid training and a sensible taper leading into London she could still make a big impression at the Games. Her time spent training with world champ Lotte Friis of Denmark will no doubt give her a lot of inspiration and focus as she continues her Olympic preparations.

Dan man

Ireland should have another Olympian by tomorrow afternoon as our 50km walkers go in search of the Olympic A-standards in Dudince, Slovakia. There are already 2 Irish athletes with the A-standard and Colin Griffin, Jamie Costin and Michael Doyle will look to take the opportunity to secure the third and final quota place in that event. Brendan Boyce although he already has the A-standard, must aim for a good time because if more than 3 Irish athletes obtain the A-time then there will be a selection issue and those with the best times will stand a better chance.

Pisco Sour

Dan man wrote: »

Martyn Irvine has took another big step towards Olympic qualification for the men's Omnium. There is now just one more event for him to negotiate in order to secure his Olympic starting place. This will come in the form of the World Championships in Melbourne in May.

Here is my calculation (open to correction) on the European quota placings:

Top 8 qualify for London Olympics:

1. Great Britain 1,610pts
2. Germany 1,270
3. France 1,243
4. Spain 1,033
5. Italy 990
6. Belgium 843
7. IRELAND 785
8. Poland 700
9. Denmark 670
10. Netherlands 498

The World Championship points scale in Melbourne is as follows:
1st=500
2nd=320
3rd=240
4th=220
5th=200
6th=180
7th=160
8th=140
9th=120
10th=100
11th=80
12th=60
13th onwards=30

So what this means is that if Denmark does not finish on the podium at the World Championships, Irvine just needs to finish no more than 5 places behind the Danish rider. If the Danish rider does not finish in the top 7 then Irvine simply needs to complete the World Championship event to secure his Olympic ticket.

Just on the track cycling, do you by any chance know what Irish riders will be competing in the world champs in Melbourne and in what events? I want to head along and would be handy to know what days the Irish are on so I can book for the correct days.

Beasty

04072511 wrote: »

Just on the track cycling, do you by any chance know what Irish riders will be competing in the world champs in Melbourne and in what events? I want to head along and would be handy to know what days the Irish are on so I can book for the correct days.

I've provided the answer to you on this here

Dodge

Triathlete Gavin Noble picked up slight injury in Australia and didn't start the World Cup race there. He;s stll well on course for qualification and should be confirmed soon

Dan man

Another disaster for Colin Griffin in the 50km walk as he was disqualified at the 42km mark in Dudince, Slovakia. His Olympic hopes now hang in the balance as he has still failed to achieve the A-standard time of 3:59hrs. Brendan Boyce however set new P.B. figures, coming home in 3:57:53hrs, again hitting the qualification standard and must be a certainty for London now. Disappointing day overall however, no additional athletes have qualified for London in Dudince.

Dan man

Time to update some of our lists and tables. Here is the latest on Ireland's Olympic qualifiers for London. I am going to include Chloe Magee in this list as although the rankings in badminton have not yet been finalised, she is 100% certain to be amongst the qualifying positions even if she does not compete between now and the close of the qualification period. We now have secured 36 quota places with athletics leading the way with a very healthy total of 15 qualifiers thus far and we will have representation in at least 9 sports. With a women's 4x400m relay team in 12th place in the Olympic rankings (top 16 qualify) and a women's 4x200m freestyle swimming squad in with a good chance of making the Olympics, and other potential qualifiers in athletics, judo, modern pentathlon, triathlon, equestrian, badminton, track cycling, boxing and outside chances in canoeing and perhaps rowing and wrestling, we can expect many more to join that list of qualifiers in the coming months.
Tomorrow could really shape the size of our Olympic team as the women's hockey team play Belgium in the Olympic play-off decider. If they qualify then we could potentially be looking at the largest ever Irish team for an Olympics. The current record is 78 from Atlanta 1996.

Athletics- 15

Men
200m - Paul Hession
1,500m - Ciaran O'Lionaird
5,000m - Alistair Cragg
Marathon - Mark Kenneally
20km walk - Rob Heffernan
50km walk - Rob Heffernan; Brendan Boyce


Women
Marathon - Linda Byrne; Ava Hutchinson; Maria McCambridge
100m hurdles - Derval O'Rourke
3,000m steeplechase - Fionnuala Britton;Stephanie Reilly
High Jump - Deirdre Ryan
Pole Vault - Tori Pena
20km walk - Olive Loughnane


Boxing - 3
Michael Conlon (Flyweight - 52kg)
John Joe Nevin (Bantamweight - 56kg)
Darren O'Neill (Middleweight - 75kg)

Swimming - 2
Barry Murphy (100m breastroke)
Grainne Murphy (800m free)

Triathlon - 1
Aileen Morrison - Women's Triathlon

Sailing - 5 (3 boats)
Annalise Murphy - Laser Radial
Ryan Seaton/Matt McGovern - 49er
Peter O'Leary/David Burrows - Star

Gymnastics - 1
Kieran Behan (Mens individual)

Cycling - 3
Men's Road Race - 3 spots
Men's Time Trial - 1 spot* (representative must be one of the road race riders)

Equestrian - 5
Individual Showjumping rider
Individual Showjumping rider
Individual/Team eventing rider
Individual/Team eventing rider
Individual/Team eventing rider

Badminton - 1
Chloe Magee

Dan man

Updated this list to include Tori Pena, Maria McCambridge and Chloe Magee. Interesting that all three have connections to Donegal but only one will count towards that county's total. Tori Pena is a member of Finn Valley A.C. in Stranorlar, Donegal but she is a native of California. She has duel Irish and American citizenship and chose to compete for Ireland as of 2010. Her grandmother was actually a Derry woman so connections with that county also. Nonetheless, she will have to go into the "other/abroad" category.
Maria McCambridge is a Letterkenny A.C. athlete and is married to Donegal athlete Gary Crossan. Before this she ran for Dundrum A.C. in her native Dublin and as I am categorising the athletes for the most part in terms of birthplace, she will go under that county in the list.
Chloe Magee in badminton however, certainly will add to Donegal's total as she is a native of Raphoe town and has no other affiliations.
Either way, Donegal will be sure to have a lot of interest in London.
Since this list was last updated, Ireland has also secured a team of at least 3 eventers for the Olympics and two individual showjumpers but as the selection process is yet to be completed, we do not know the identity of these athletes. Same goes for our 3 road race riders/time trial rider.


So just 125 days to go until the opening ceremony kicks off in London. As it stands, Ireland has secured 36 Olympic berths for the Games, although we only know the identity who 28 of those athletes as we do not yet know who will represent us in the cycling, and equestrian. Just for a bit of fun and personal amusement, I have made a table outlining which counties are represented amongst our qualifiers. The table will generally be based on athletes' birthplaces unless they have spent most of their lives elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, Dublin is leading the way so far with 8 qualified athletes, followed by Cork with 5 currently. So, how is your county doing? Are they represented yet? Are they likely to be represented on the big stage in London this year? We will be able to update this information as the year progresses. Let me know if you spot any errors.

County|Number of athletes qualified|Details|
Dublin|8|Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson, Maria McCambridge, Deirdre Ryan, Mark Kenneally, Barry Murphy, Annalise Murphy, David Burrows,
Cork|5|Derval O'Rourke, Olive Loughnane, Robert Heffernan, Ciaran O'Lionaird, Peter O'Leary
Antrim|2|Ryan Seaton, Michael Conlan
Donegal|2|Brendan Boyce, Chloe Magee
Wicklow|2|Fionnuala Britton, Stephanie Reilly
Derry|1|Aileen Morrison
Down|1|Matt McGovern
Galway|1|Paul Hession
Kilkenny|1|Darren O'Neill
Westmeath|1|John Joe Nevin
Wexford|1|Grainne Murphy
Other/Abroad|3|Alistair Cragg (South Africa), Kieran Behan (England), Tori Pena (U.S.A.)


Additional Info:

• So far the team is made up of 18 men and 13 women and 5 unknown equestrian riders.
• Qualifiers by province: Leinster (13), Ulster (6), Munster (5), Connacht (1)
• Kieran Behan (gymnastics qualifier) although born in London, England has Irish parents: mother is from Monaghan and father from Dublin.
• Tori Pena was born in California but competes for Finn Valley A.C. in Donegal and her grandmother was born in Derry.
• Maria McCambridge has been living in Donegal for the last few years and competes for Letterkenny A.C. She is married to Letterkenny runner Gary Crossan and she is now living in Donegal with her family.
• So far, just as many Corkmen as Dublin men have qualified (3 a-piece).
• 4 qualifiers were born in Northern Ireland, with Aileen Morrison the only female so far on the team from the 6-counties.
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murphy is the most common surname, with 3 Murphys on the team.
• Maria McCambridge is the oldest member of the team at 36 years age with the youngest being Grainne Murphy who will turn 19 in March.
• The average age of our women when the Olympics get underway is 28.3yrs for women and 27.3yrs for the men. Overall the average is 27.8yrs for our Olympians.
• 17 of the qualifiers will be first-time Olympians in London; 6 qualifiers are returning for a second time with 5 of these 6 having previously competed in Beijing in 2008 and Maria McCambridge returning after having competed in Athens 2004; 2 qualifiers (Derval O'Rourke and Alistair Cragg) will be appearing in their 3rd consecutive Olympic Games; and a trio of Olympic veterans will be returning to the Olympic stage to make a 4th appearance, namely Robert Heffernan and Olive Loughnane who will travel to their 4th consecutive Olympics and David Burrows, who made his Olympic debut way back in Atlanta in 1996 (missed out on Beijing).

Dan man

UPDATE:

• Brendan Boyce has once again achieved the Olympic A-standard for the 50km walk posting a new P.B. of 3:57:53hrs in Dudince, Slovakia this morning.
• Robert Heffernan walked the A-standard over the 20km distance last weekend in Lugano, Switzerland in 1:20:39hrs.
• Maria McCambridge achieved the A-standard for the women's marathon in Rome last weekend in a time of 2:36:37hrs.

Here is a useful table with Irish athletes that can be updated as the season progresses.

Athletes in bold have achieved the A qualifying standard.
Athletes in red have achieved the B qualifying standard.
(A) = A standard
(B) = B standard
(B*)= B standard, but A standard has been achieved by another athlete in that event.


MEN:ATHLETE|EVENT|OLYMPIC STANDARDS|2012 SEASON BEST|2011 S.B.|PERSONAL BEST|
Jason Smyth|100m|A=10.18secs;B=10.24secs||10.22secs (B)|10.22secs|
Jason Smyth|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.94secs|20.94secs|
Paul Hession|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.51secs (A)|20.30secs|
Steven Colvert|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.76secs|20.76secs|
David Gillick|400m|A=45.30secs;B=45.90secs||46.64secs (injured)|44.77secs|
Brian Gregan|400m|A=45.30secs;B=45.90secs|46.66secs (indoor)|45.96secs|45.96secs|
Thomas Chamney|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||injured|1:45.41mins|
Paul Robinson|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:47.31mins|1:47.31mins|
Mark English|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins|1:49.49mins (indoor)|1:47.09mins|1:47.09mins|
David McCarthy(1983)|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:46.62mins|1:46.62mins|
Darren McBrearty|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:47.79mins|1:47.79mins|
Dave Campbell|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:51.13mins (injured)|1:45.59mins|
Ciaran O'Lionaird|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:34.46mins (A)|3:34.46mins|
Thomas Chamney|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||injured|3:36.83mins|
Rory Chesser|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.94mins|3:40.08mins|
Paul Robinson|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins|3:40.50mins|3:42.29mins|3:40.50mins|
Dave McCarthy (1988)|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins|3:40.48mins (indoor/split time in 1 mile race)|3:43.66mins|3:40.48mins (indoor/split time during 1 mile race)|
John Travers|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.07mins|3:42.07mins|
Darren McBrearty|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.68mins|3:42.68mins|
Dave Campbell|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||injured|3:39.18mins|
Alistair Cragg|5,000m|A=13:20.00mins;B=13:27.00mins||13:03.53mins (A)|13:03.53mins|
Mark Christie|5,000m|A=13:20.00mins;B=13:27.00mins||13:28.21mins|13:28.21mins|
Mark Kenneally|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:13:55hrs(A)|2:13:55hrs|
Sean Connolly|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:17:23hrs (B*)|2:17:23hrs|
Thomas Fraser|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:19:42hrs|2:19:42mins|
Ben Reynolds|110m Hurdles|A=13.52secs;B=13.60secs||13.75secs|13.75secs|
Thomas Barr|400m Hurdles|A=49.50secs;B=49.80secs||50.06secs|50.06secs|
Robert Heffernan|20km Walk|A=1:22:30hrs;B=1:24:30hrs|1:20:39hrs (A)|1:20:54hrs(A)|1:19:22hrs|
Robert Heffernan|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||3:49:30hrs(A)|3:45:30hrs|
Brendan Boyce|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs|3:57:53hrs (A)|3:57:58hrs (A)|3:57:53hrs|
Colin Griffin|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|3:51:32mins|
Michael Doyle|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|no time recorded|
Jamie Costin|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|3:50:51hrs|


WOMEN:ATHLETE|EVENT|OLYMPIC STANDARDS|2012 SEASON BEST|2011 S.B.|PERSONAL BEST|
Ailish McSweeney|100m|A=11.29secs;B=11.38secs||11.89secs (injured)|11.40secs|
Amy Foster|100m|A=11.29secs;B=11.38secs||11.49secs|11.49secs|
Amy Foster|200m|A=23.10secs;B=23.30secs||23.53secs|23.53secs|
Niamh Whelan|200m|A=23.10secs;B=23.30secs||23.87secs|23.30secs|
Joanne Cuddihy|400m|A=51.55secs;B=52.35secs|51.86secs (B)|51.82secs (B)|50.73secs|
Ciara Mageean|800m|A=1:59.90mins;B=2:01.30mins||2:02.31mins (mixed race, not recognised by IAAF)|2:02.31mins (mixed race)|
Ciara Mageean|1,500m|A=4:06.00mins;B=4:08.90mins||4:07.45mins (B)|4:07.45mins|
Fionnuala Britton|5,000m|A=15:20.00mins;B=15:30.00mins||15:21.45mins (mixed race, not recognised by IAAF)|15:21.45mins (mixed race)|
Mary Cullen|5,000m|A=15:20.00mins;B=15:30.00mins||injured|15:19.04mins|
Fionnuala Britton|10,000m|A=31:45.00mins;B=32:10.00mins||no time recorded|no time recorded|
Mary Cullen|10,000m|A=31:45.00mins;B=32:10.00mins||33:02.74mins|32:21.42mins|
Linda Byrne|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:36:20hrs (A)|2:36:20hrs|
Ava Hutchinson|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:35:33hrs (A)|2:42:48hrs|2:35:33hrs|
Maria McCambridge|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:36:37hrs (A)|2:40:26hrs (B*)|2:35:29hrs|
Gladys Ganiel-O'Neill|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:40:56hrs (B*)|2:41:22hrs(B*)|2:40:56hrs|
Catriona Jennings|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:43:08hrs|2:43:08hrs|
Fionnuala Britton|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||9:37.60mins (A)|9:37.60mins|
Stephanie Reilly|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||9:42.91mins (A)|9:42.91mins|
Roisin McGettigan|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||no time recorded|9:28.29mins|
Derval O'Rourke|100m Hurdles|A=12.96secs;B=13.15secs||12.84secs (A)|12.65secs|
Jessie Barr|400m Hurdles|A=55.50secs;B=56.65secs||56.62secs (B)|56.62secs|
Deirdre Ryan|High Jump|A=1.95m;B=1.92m||1.95m (A)|1.95m|
Tori Pena|Pole Vault|A=4.50m;B=4.40m|4.50m (A)|4.40m (B)|4.50m|
Kelly Proper|Long Jump|A=6.75m;B=6.65m|6.34m (indoor)|6.45m(indoor)|6.62m (indoor)|
Olive Loughnane|20km Walk|A=1:33:30hrs;B=1:38:00hrs|1:32:26hrs (A)|1:31:55hrs (A)|1:27:45hrs|
Laura Reynolds|20km Walk|A=1:33:30hrs;B=1:38:00hrs|1:37:41hrs (B*)|1:35:34hrs (B*)|1:35:34hrs|

Dan man

Edited to include Grainne Murphy's season's best in 800m freestyle in the Danish National Championships this week (8:29.55mins).

Note:
Swimmers in bold have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard and are elligible to take part in the Olympics.
The Olympic Invitation time is a minimum time needed for a swimmer to be invited to take part in the Games.
Irish swimmers must achieve the Olympic qualifying standard, but those swimmers who have achieved the qualifying standard in an event can also enter other events in which they have only achieved the Olympic invitation time.
In essence, the Olympic qualifying time and the Olympic invitation time act in a similar way to the A and the B qualifying standards process used in athletics.

MEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Barry Murphy|50m Freestyle|22.11secs|22.88secs|22.89secs|
Ryan Harrison|200m Freestyle|1:47.82mins|1:51.59mins|1:49.18mins|
Karl Burdis|100m Backstroke|54.40secs|56.30secs|55.90secs|
Barry Murphy|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:00.77mins (QT)|
Andrew Bree|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:02.54mins|
Andrew Bree|200m Breastroke|2:11.74mins|2:16.35mins|2:15.46mins|
Jonathan Quinn|200m Individual Medley|2:00.17mins|2:04.38mins|2:04.25mins|


WOMEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Fiona Doyle|50m Freestyle|25.27secs|26.15secs|26.04secs|
Fiona Doyle|100m Freestyle|54.57secs|56.48secs|56.75secs|
Grainne Murphy|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.02mins|
Melanie Nocher|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.49mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.61mins|
Bethany Carson|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:02.44mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.85mins|
Grainne Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins| 8:29.55mins (QT)|
Nuala Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins|8:50.15mins|
Aisling Cooney|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:01.76mins|
Melanie Nocher|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:01.92mins|
Melanie Nocher|200m Backstroke|2:10.84mins|2:15.42mins|2:11.71mins|
Sycerika McMahon|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.24mins|
Fiona Doyle|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.65mins|
Fiona Doyle|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:31.05mins|
Shani Stallard|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:30.63mins|
Bethany Carson|100m Butterfly|58.70mins|1:00.75mins|1:00.53mins|
Grainne Murphy|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:15.82mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:16.14mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:44.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:49.87mins|

Dan man

Here are the current Badminton world rankings which will act as the qualification procedure for the Olympic Games. Those in qualifying positions on the 3rd May 2012 will claim their places in London.

Men's Singles:
Qualification system

• countries with 3 players in the top 4 in the world rankings are entitled to 3 quota places.
• countries with 2 or more players ranked in the top 16 in the world rankings are entitled to 2 quota places.
• if a country has no players in the top 16 but have one or more players occupying the qualifying postions are entitled to 1 quota place.
• there are 38 quota places to be distributed from the world rankings.
• in the list below, I have omitted players from countries that have already exceeded their quota of qualifiers.

Current Standings:

1. Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia)
2. Lin Dan (China 1)
3. Chen Long (China 2)
4. Peter Hoeg Gade (Denmark 1)
5. Sho Sasaki (Japan 1)
6. Lee Hyun Il (South Korea)
7. Kenichi Tago (Japan 2)
8. Simon Santoso (Indonesia 1)
9. Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia 2)
10. Tien Minh Nguyen (Vietnam)
11. Jan O. Jorgensen (Denmark 2)
12. Marc Zwiebler (Germany)
13. Wong Wing Ki (Hong Kong)
14. Pablo Abian (Spain)
15. Rajiv Ouseph (Great Britain)
16. Kevin Cordon (Guatemala)
17. Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand)
18. Ajay Jayaram (India)
19. Przemyslaw Wacha (Poland)
20. Hsueh Hsuan Yi (Chinese Taipei)
21. Brice Leverdez (France)
22. Ville Lang (Finland)
23. Eric Pang (Netherlands)
24. Dmytro Zavadsky (Ukraine)
25. Yuhan Tan (Belgium)
26. Zi Lang Derek Wong (Singapore)
27. Vladimir Ivanov (Russia)
28. Niluka Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
29. Michael Lahnsteiner (Austria)
30. Pedro Martins (Portugal)
31. Henri Hurskainen (Sweden)
32. Mathieu Lo Ying Ping (France)
33. Rodrigo Pacheco Carrillo (Peru)
34. Scott Evans (IRELAND)
35. Stefan Wojcikiewicz (Canada)
36. Petr Koukal (Czech Republic)
37. Kestutis Navickas (Lithuania)
38. Raul Must (Estonia)
39. Misha Zilberman (Israel)
40. Daniel Paiola (Brazil)

As you can see, Scott is currently occupying a top 38 qualifying position for the Olympics. However, he has to keep performing well as he is currently 66th in the world rankings and Misha Zilberman of Israel who is outside of the qualifying positions is in 77th place on the world list. There is potential for that gap to be closed so Scott must defend his qualifying spot. Also, Scott will be aiming to improve on his current ranking position as there are other factors that he cannot control. For example, players from countries such as China, Malaysia and Indonesia could still claim additional quota places for their nations by improving on their current positions in the rankings.
It must be said however, that it is looking promising for Scott to go on to compete at his second consecutive Olympics this summer.

Women's Singles:

1. Wang Yihan (China 1)
2. Wang Xin (China 2)
3. Wang Shixian (China 3)
4. Saina Nehwal (India)
5. Tine Baun (Denmark)
6. Juliane Schenk (Germany)
7. Cheng Shao Chieh (Chinese Taipei 1)
8. Inthanon Ratchanok (Thailand 1)
9. Sung Ji Hyun (South Korea 1)
10. Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Thailand 2)
11. Bae Youn Joo (South Korea 2)
12. Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei 2)
13. Sayaka Sato (Japan)
14. Juan Gu (Singapore)
15. Yip Pui Yin (Hong Kong)
16. Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria)
17. Pi Hongyan (France)
18. Yao Jie (Netherlands)
19. Li Michelle (Canada)
20. Carolina Marin (Spain)
21. Mingtian Fu (Singapore)
22. Maria Febe Kusumastuti (Indonesia)
23. Agnese Allegrini (Italy)
24. Larisa Griga (Ukraine)
25. Susan Egelstaff (Great Britain)
26. Anastasia Prokopenko (Russia)
27. Jeanine Cicognini (Switzerland)
28. Chloe Magee (IRELAND)
29. Jing Yi Tee (Malaysia)
30. Neslihan Yigit (Turkey)
31. Kristina Gavnholt (Czech Republic)
32. Lianne Tan (Belgium)
33. Michelle Chan Ky (New Zealand)
34. Rena Wang (U.S.A.)
35. Victoria Montero (Mexico)
36. Anne Hald Jensen (Greece)
37. Anu Nieminen (Finland)
38. Ragna Ingolfsdottir (Iceland)
39. Telma Santos (Portugal)
40. Victoria Na (Australia)

Chloe Magee is in a comfortable position in the rankings and she is now assured of remaining in the qualification placings when the qualifying period finalises at the start of May. Chloe is 43rd on the world rankings list and is a long way in front of Telma Santos of Portugal (72nd), who occupies the highest poisition of those outside of the qualifying places. Chloe will go to her second Olympic Games this summer.

Mixed Doubles:

• 16 pairs will compete in the mixed doubles at the Olympics.
• These pairs will qualify via the world rankings list.
• a country with 2 or more pairs in the top 8 in the world rankings is entitled to a quota of 2 pairs for the Olympic mixed doubles event.
• any continent without a qualified pair will be entitled to a quota of 1 pair providing they are ranked in the top 50 of the world rankings.

Current ranking:

1. China 1 (Asia)
2. China 2
3. Indonesia
4. Denmark 1 (Europe)
5. Chinese Taipei
6. Denmark 2
7. South Korea
8. Malaysia
9. Thailand
10. Japan
11. Russia
12. Great Britain
13. India
14. Germany
15. Poland
16. Canada (America)
17. Singapore
18. Hong Kong
19. IRELAND (Sam Magee/Chloe Magee)

Sam and Chloe are just outside of the top 16 quota places but there is still time for them to claim an Olympic berth. A number of factors is likely to come into play for them to be successful. They will be hoping to improve on their own ranking and will hope that one of the 2 Danish pairs will fall out of the world's top 8 which will free up another quota place. They will also be hoping that the South African pair (currently ranked 57th in the world) remain outside of the top 50, thus meaning that the African quota place will go unused. Another thing in that may help Sam and Chloe is that there are country quotas in place in Olympic badminton. It is becoming increasingly unlikely that the Irish pair will qualify for the Olympics but they still harbour hopes of making London.

sleapy235

Great work on the stats Dan Man. Just one correction- we have only 3 cyclists qualified as the competitor in the time trial must be one of the 3 that line out for the road race.

Dan man

sleapy235 wrote: »

Great work on the stats Dan Man. Just one correction- we have only 3 cyclists qualified as the competitor in the time trial must be one of the 3 that line out for the road race.

Thanks for that sleapy, indeed you are right. I remember reading that before but it had slipped my mind. I'll edit the post above to reflect this, appreciate you pointing that out.

Dan man

Here are the latest Modern Pentathlon Olympic rankings which updated earlier this week. Natalya Coyle and Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe remain firmly in the hunt for the Olympic qualifying positions. Here are the current standings.


QUALIFICATION PROCESS:

• 36 men and 36 women will take part in the Olympic Pentathlon in London.
• The maximum number of pentathletes allowed to compete in London for each nation is 2 men and 2 women.
• So far, 24 of the 36 places have been filled in each of the men's and women's events meaning that there are 12 remaining positions in both the men's and women's competition available to be filled.
• As 2 of these 12 remaining places are invitation spots it means that the Irish pentathletes will be fighting for 10 remaining quota spots in each category, 3 of which will be awarded to the top 3 non-qualified finishers at the 2012 World Championships in Rome at the end of May.
• All this means that the Irish pentathletes in order to guarantee qualification through the Olympic rankings, they must be amongst the highest 7 ranked athletes who have not qualified through any of the above procedures.

Here is the current Olympic pentathlon rankings with an explanation as to who occupying those Olympic slots.
Q represents those pentathletes who have not yet qualified for the Olympics but are amongst those remaining available qualifying positions from the Olympic rankings:

Women:

Currently there will be 8 places available in this ranking system as the host nation quota spot will be re-allocated to the next highest ranked pentathlete.

Position|Name|Country|Points|Details|
1|Lena Schoneborn|Germany|203|already qualified through UIPM World Cup Final.
2|Laura Asadauskaite|Lithuania|193|already qualified through European Championships.
3|Victoria Tereshuk|Ukraine|191|already qualified through European Championships.
4|Elodie Clouvel|France|190|already qualified through the World Championships.
5|Mhairi Spence|Great Britain|174|Q1
6|Eva Trautmann|Germany|158|Q2
7|Sarolta Kovacs|Hungary|149|already qualified through the European Championships.
8|Ekaterina Khuraskina|Russia|148|already qualified through the European Championships.
9|Yane Marques|Brazil|144|already qualified through the World Championships.
10|Adrienn Toth|Hungary|141|already qualified through the European Chmapionships.
11|Evdokia Gretchichnikova|Russia|140|already qualified through the World Championships.
12|Elena Rublevska|Latvia|140|already qualified through the European Championships.
13|Heather Fell|Great Britain|135|already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
14|Leila Gyenesei|Hungary|129|already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
15|Freyja Prentice|Great Britain|128|already qualified through the European Championships.
16|Annika Schleu|Germany|124|already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
17|Anastasiya Prokopenko|Belarus|111|Q3
18|Yihua Miao|China|110|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
19|Yuliya Kolegova|Russia|108|already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
20|Sylvia Gawlikowska|Poland|105|Q4
21|Iryna Khokhlova|Ukraine|102|Q5
22|Natalie Dianova|Czech Republic|101|Q6
23|Margaux Isaksen|U.S.A.|100|already qualified through the Pan-American Games.
24|Qian Chen|China|98|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
25|Claudia Cesarini|Italy|98|Q7
26|Chloe Esposito|Australia|97|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
27|Sabrina Crognale|Italy|94|Q8
28|Aya Medani|Egypt|93|already qualified through the African Championships.
29|Natalya Coyle|IRELAND|90|


Natalya is just 4 ranking points away from the quota positions and she is in prime position to gain an Olympic spot. Three athletes who are not currently qualified will claim their Olympic qualification at the Worlds in Rome at the end of May. Natalya could be one of those 3 and even if she is not, the 3 qualifiers will likely be made up of some of those ranked ahead of her on the list which would free up more quota places and push her into the qualifying spots.


Men:


Currently, 8 men are elligible to qualify from this ranking system as the host nation quota spot will be re-allocated to the next highest ranked pentathlete.

Position|Name|Country|Points|Details
1|Aleksandr Lesun|Russia|210|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
2|Robert Kasza|Hungary|183|already qualified through the UIPM World Cup Final.
3|Adam Marosi|Hungary|178|already qualified through the World Championships.
4|Ilia Frolov|Russia|170|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
5|Andrei Moiseev|Russia|169|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
6|Pavlo Tymoshchenko|Ukraine|164|Q1
7|Serguei Karyakin|Russia|162|already qualified through the European Championships.
8|Nicholas Woodbridge|Great Britain|158|Q2
9|Bence Demeter|Hungary|147|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
10|Riccardo De Luca|Italy|139|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
11|Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy|Ukraine|135|already qualified through the European Championships.
12|Jinhwa Jung|South Korea|134|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
13|Nicola Benedetti|Italy|133|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
14|Thomas Daniel|Austria|130|already qualified through the World Championships.
15|James Cooke|Great Britain|123|already qualified through the European Chmapionships.
16|Justinas Kinderis|Lithuania|122|Q3
17|Jean Maxence Berrou|France|117|Q4
18|Jin-woo Hong|South Korea|115|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
19|Peter Tibolya|Hungary|111|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
20|Pierpaolo Petroni|Italy|110|already qualified through the European Championships.
21|Hwang Woojin|South Korea|110|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
22|Alexander Nobis|Germany|109|Q5
23|Zhongrong Cao|China|107|already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
24|David Svoboda|Czech Republic|103|Q6
25|Stanislau Zhurauliou|Belarus|101|Q7
26|Denis Cerkovskis|Latvia|97|Q8
27|Ondrej Polivka|Czech Republic|93|elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions.
28|Samuel Weale|Great Britain|91|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
29|Delf Borrmann|Germany|88|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
30|Mikalai Hayanouski|Belarus|88|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
31|Golis Remigiusz|Poland|87|elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions.
32|Sam Sacksen|U.S.A.|87|elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions
33|Pavlo Kirpulyanskyy|Ukraine|83|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
34|Choon-huan Lee|South Korea|81|already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
35|Steffen Gebhardt|Germany|81|already qualified through the European Championships.
36|Christopher Patte|France|80|elligible for qualifying if he moves into quota positions.
37|Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe|IRELAND|79|elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions.


So with 8 spots available in this ranking system for non-qualified pentathletes, Arthur is effectively lying 13th non-qualified pentathlete currently, outside of the qualifying positions. He is 18 points behind the qualifying positions at the moment so he can close this gap. Additionally, 3 men ahead of him may well qualify directly from the World Championships in Rome in May and Arthur himself could qualify from those championships. There will also be 2 invitation spots so things are looking encouraging for his chances to compete in London.

Prognosis: just outside the qualifying places but is positioned well to make a drive for qualification and he is in with a very good chance of securing an Olympic place, be it through the rankings system or the World championships and if all else fails he can be hopeful of being considered strongly for one of the 2 invitation places.

The qualification deadline is June 1st. Looking promising so far for Natalya and Arthur is also in with a huge chance of joining her in London. Consistency over the next couple of competitions will be key to their Olympic hopes.

Pisco Sour

Hey Dan Man. What's the prospects of Ireland having representatives in London in track cycling? I see that Martin Irvine looks good in the Omnium but am a bit confused about Caroline Ryan. She's ranked very highly in the Individual Pursuit but that is no longer an Olympic event. What event is she attempting to qualify for? And what are the chances of a team pursuit team qualifying? Very little information out there on the Irish cycling websites.

Dan man

04072511 wrote: »

Hey Dan Man. What's the prospects of Ireland having representatives in London in track cycling? I see that Martin Irvine looks good in the Omnium but am a bit confused about Caroline Ryan. She's ranked very highly in the Individual Pursuit but that is no longer an Olympic event. What event is she attempting to qualify for? And what are the chances of a team pursuit team qualifying? Very little information out there on the Irish cycling websites.

Martyn Irvine is the only rider in with a realistic chance of Olympic qualification and he should achieve this at the World Championships in Melbourne. He just needs to defend his current Olympic ranking placing and a top 10 place should be more than enough unless other results really go against him.
Caroline Ryan as you say competes mainly in the pursuit which is no longer an Olympic discipline. The women's team pursuit had been performing well in 2011 but a few mishaps has cost them any chance of qualification and they have not been competing recently because of this. No other chances I'm afraid but there are a lot of very positive moves being made in Irish cycling. A talent 2020 squad has been identified with a view to catch some future talents at an earlier age and give them advice as to diet and nutrition as well as constructive training regimes and training camps abroad. In the short term there are other promising riders such as Felix English making good progress.

As for the London Olympics, Martyn Irvine should be there and could do very well, certainly top 10, capable of top 8 and with a bit of luck could possibly challenge for top 6.

FitzjamesHorse

Just want to say "Good Luck" to the Hockey Girls today.
Hopefully they make it. It would be heartbreaking if both Men and Women lost out on the final qualifying spot.

Dan man

A hugely disappointing day for our women's hockey team losing their Olympic play-off match with Belgium 4-1. The result means that we will have no representation in hockey or indeed any team sports at London 2012. Despite today's bad result, both men's and women's hockey teams have done exceptionally well and can be proud of their achievements. Remember, only 12 teams will go on to compete in the Olympic hockey tournament, so to have come so close to qualification is a great achievement despite the ultimate heart-break. I really hope they can kick on from these strong performances and keep the flag flying for Ireland on the competitive stage. Onwards and upwards.


Date and Time|Fixtures
17/03/2012 (Sat.10:00)|Spain 7-0 Mexico
17/03/2012 (Sat.12:30)|IRELAND 5-1 France
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:00)|Belgium 4-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|Spain 2-1 France
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|IRELAND 3-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Mexico 0-12 Belgium
20/03/2012 (Tue.12:00)|Mexico 0-5 IRELAND
20/03/2012 (Tue.14:30)|Russia 3-2 France
20/03/2012 (Tue.17:00)|Belgium 1-0 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia 5-1 Mexico
22/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|IRELAND 3-2 Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|France 0-4 Belgium
24/03/2012 (Sat.09:00)|France 5-4 Mexico
24/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Spain 1-1 Russia
24/03/2012 (Sat.17:00)|Belgium 1-1 IRELAND
25/03/2012 (Sun.10:30)|France 5-1 Mexico 5th/6th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.13:00)|Spain 5-1 Russia 3rd/4th place play-off
25/03/2012 (Sun.15:30)|Belgium 4-1 IRELAND (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Q Belgium|4|1|0|22|1|+21|13
Q IRELAND|4|1|0|17|4|+13|13
Spain|2|1|2|12|6|+6|7
Russia|2|1|2|9|11|-2|7
France|1|0|4|9|18|-9|3
Mexico|0|0|5|5|34|-29|0

Dan man

After double disappointment for our hockey teams in the last 2 weeks it's time to bring back some positivity by looking forward to our other potential Olympians and their respective journeys to London 2012 qualification. There is much at stake in the coming month for the Irish hopefuls across a range of Olympic sports. Here is a quick run-down of upcoming events:

APRIL:

CYCLING

• Track Cycling World Championships, Melbourne > 04-08 April. Martyn Irvine will aim to defend his current Olympic ranking position in the men's Omnium as the race for the quota places reaches its climax. The current state of play is that Irvine is sitting 7th best European rider in the Olympic rankings and the top 8 Europeans will qualify for London at the end of the World Championships. He has a decent buffer of 115 ranking points advantage over the Danish rider who is currently just outside of the top 8 cut-off point. This translates to a scenario whereby if Denmark does not finish on the podium at the World Championships, Irvine just needs to finish no more than 5 places behind the Danish rider. If the Danish rider does not finish in the top 7 then Irvine simply needs to complete the World Championship event to stay ahead of him in the rankings. The performance of the Polish rider who is occupying the 8th and final quota place will also be of interest to Irish fans and below Denmark there is little to worry Irvine as a set of extremely unlikely results would have to occur for those nations to come into play. So it seems to boil down to a battle between Belgium (6th), Ireland (7th), Poland (8) and Denmark (9th) for the top 8 ranking and given the scenarios I have outlined we should expect to see Irvine book his Olympic place at these Championships.

MODERN PENTATHLON:

• World Cup 2012 #3 Budapest, Hungary > 12-15 April. Ireland's Natalya Coyle and Arthur Lanigan O'Keeffe are in pursuit of Olympic ranking points as they continue to challenge strongly for Olympic qualification. They will be aiming to reach the final at this event and push for a top 20 overall finish to further boost their Olympic hopes.
• World Cup 2012 #4 Rostov, Russia > 19-22 April. The Irish pair will likely travel to Rostov to keep their qualification ambitions on track with another consisitent performance. A good result here may also see them qualify for the overall World Cup final. Qualification for that event is based on results from all 4 legs of the 2012 World Cup Series.

BOXING:

• Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Trabzon, Turkey > 13-22 April. This tournament is of crucial importance to Ireland's Olympic medal hopes as it represents the last chance for our male boxers to book their place in London. With some of our more genuine medal contenders competing in Trabzon we will be looking for a good outcome from this tournament.

49kg: Light Flyweight Paddy Barnes 5 places available (needs to reach the semi-finals to make sure of an Olympic place)
60kg: Lightweight Michael McDonagh 4 places available (needs to reach the semi-finals)
64kg: Light Welterweight Ross Hickey 1 place available (needs to win the tournament)
69kg: Welterweight John Joe Joyce 2 places available (needs to reach the final)
81kg: Light-Heavyweight Joe Ward 3 places available (needs to reach the final to guarantee qualification or reach the semi-finals, having lost to the eventual winner of the tournament)
91kg: Heavyweight Tommy McCarthy 1 place available (needs to win the tournament)
+91kg: Super-Heavyweight Con Sheehan 2 places available (needs to reach the final)

BADMINTON:

• European Championships Karskrona, Sweden > 17-21 April. There are many international tournaments throughout the month of April that will count towards the world rankings and ulimately Olympic qualification, the big event will undoubtedly be the European Championships in Sweden. Ireland's Scott Evans will aim to defend his position amongst the qualifying places in the men's singles rankings and siblings Sam and Chloe Magee will be in search of a big result that could push them towards the Olympic quota placings in the mixed doubles.

WRESTLING:

• European Olympic Qualifying Tournament Sofia, Bulgaria > 20-22 April. Ireland's Alex Dolly will compete in the freestyle -84kg wrestling category and there are two quota places up for grabs at this tournament.
• 1st World Qualification Tournament > 27-29 April. There will be 3 quota spots up for grabs at this event.

JUDO:

• European Championships Chelyabinsk, Russia > 26-29 April. Irish judoka Lisa Kearney (-48kg) is on track for Olympic qualification and just needs to defend her current placing in the Olympic and E.J.U. rankings. She has recently been hit by injury and has had to undergo rehab so I'm unsure as to whether or not she will compete at these Championships where there will be sizeable Olympic ranking points on offer. I gather though that she is back in training so there are promising signs that she might get back on the mat in time for this event.

Dan man

Fiona Doyle swam a new Irish record at the Canadian Olympic Trials in the 100m Breastroke today. Her time of 1:08.98mins is just 0.51 secs of the Olympic qualifying time. Great performance by Fiona.

Dan man

Irish swimmer Barry Murphy was inside the Olympic Selection Time for the men's 50m freestyle at the Indianapolis Grand Prix this morning. His time of 22.71secs, although shy of the automatic Olympic Qualifying Time of 22.11secs, was enough to send Murphy through to tonight's final as well as securing his right to swim this event at the Olympics. Due to the fact that he has already achieved the Olympic Qualifying Time in the 100m breastroke, Murphy is entitled to enter any event at the Olympics in which he attains the lesser Olympic Selection Time as his presence in those events would not affect F.I.N.A.'s quota of 900 swimmers for London given the fact he has already qualified in his specialised event.