Irelands most likely Olympic 2012 Medals

Cosmo Kramer

Adam Nolan does the business in his Semi and is going to London. Five Irish boxers qualified, still a chance for McCarthy but it will be tough.

Cosmo Kramer

Barnes beaten in his semi today. By a Turk unsurprisingly enough. Doesn't matter too much though as he is already qualified for London. It will be very interesting to see if all these Turks are able to keep up their mysterious improvements in standard in London...

Cosmo Kramer

Tommy McCarthy beaten by 3 in his semi-final, unfortunately he won't be going to London.

So we now know we have five confirmed men's boxers at the Olympics with Adam Nolan and Paddy Barnes this week joining our three qualifiers from the worlds last year. This equals our number of qualifiers at Beijing four years ago where we got all of our three medals in boxing of course.

Hopefully Katie Taylor can qualify also and bring our total number of boxers to six and I still haven't given up hope of seeing Joe Ward there as well through the wildcard place.

Dan man

5 male boxers is an impressive total for London, it would have been an overwhelmingly positive outcome had it not been for the disappointment over Joe Ward. We all live in hope that Ward will be given his rightful place in London. The Olympic boxing tournament is looking really exciting now from an Irish point of view, there is real potential amongst that group for a decent medal haul. Well done to the team.

Cosmo Kramer

Adam Nolan wins gold on countback in Trabzon, fantastic stuff from Nolan, one to watch in London!

The Turk that beat Joe Ward easily won his final at 81kg. Billy Walsh said in an interview this afternoon that it will be a month before we find out whether Ward gets to go to London but discussions are ongoing and his case is being made.

Dan man

Irish modern pentathlete Natalya Coyle has continued her steady march towards Olympic qualification in a watershed day for Irish pentathlon at the World Cup in Russia today. She finished in 10th place, the first Irish pentathlete to finish in the top 10 in a World Cup series event and bags her a significant number of Olympic qualifying points. This ensures her place in the 2012 World Cup Series finale in Chengdu, China at the end of May where there are heaps of Olympic points up for grabs. This young woman is a huge talent and she continues to go from strength to strength.
Unfortunately fellow Olympic hopeful Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe had to pull out in the heats of the men's competition meaning he cannot score any qualification points this weekend. He is still in with a great chance of making London as he too has accumulated enough World Cup points to be invited to the 2012 World Series Finale and will therefore be able to make up some places in the rankings with a decent performance there.
Eanna Bailey will keep the Irish flag flying in the men's final tomorrow as he qualified in 12th place (top 18 advanced to the final) in his heat yesterday. It is the first time that he has made a World Cup final and as with our other two leading performers, his graph continues to rise as he gains international experience.
Well done Natalya, a first of what should be many-a-top 10 in World Cup competition.

Dan man

Irish triathlete Aileen Morrison had another very impressive result this weekend with silver in the ITU World Cup Race in Ishigaki, Japan. Although not as competitive as the World Series races, the World Cup races are a good hard test and Morrison will no doubt be pleased with another silver medal (having also won silver here last year). Gavin Noble took another step towards London 2012 with a solid 24th place finish in the men's event to continue keeping a healthy look to his Olympic ranking. Good weekend for our triathletes.

Dan man

Irish pentathlon are celebrating outstanding success this week as not only did Natalya Coyle secure a first ever top 10 for Ireland in a World Cup event on Saturday, Eanna Bailey placed a very impressive 14th in the men's World Cup final today. Eanna was contesting his first ever final and got of to a shaky start in his weakest event, the fencing. This left him in 32nd overall (out of 36 finalists) but Eanna is very strong in all of the other 4 disciplines, particularly so in swimming. He finished 8th in swimming to improve to =26th place after 2 events, but it was in the riding (showjumping) element where Eanna really made his move up the table. In fact, Eanna finished the riding event with the maximum 1200 points and was the only athlete to go clear in the showjumping. An outstanding performance and this moved him up to 15th place going into the combined event (shooting/run). In this final event, Eanna continued to perform very well and improved his final placing to 14th overall. A fantastic result, this guy has a big future in the sport and if he can get the fencing element sorted out then he will make a big impact.
Ireland has a really bright future in this sport and already the likes of Natalya, Eanna and Arthur are accomplished on the international stage. With a few more seasons of experience under their belts these young pentathletes can bring Irish pentathlon to a very exciting place.

Dan man

Time to update some tables as the Olympic qualification trail continues to draw to an exciting climax. With the outdoor season in track and field getting underway, performances are beginning to come through thick and fast now. Here is the latest update with some of the results from various U.S. meets as well as a notable inclusion in the women's marathon where there is a 4th Irish qualifier. This will present the selectors with a dilemma as only three of those four can contest the Olympic marathon come August.


UPDATE:

• Caitriona Jennings becomes the fourth Irish woman to run the Olympic A-standard for the marathon. She ran 2:36:17hrs in the Rotterdam marathon, dipping under the required 2:37hrs.
• Fionnuala Britton achieved the B-standard for the 5,000m at a meet in California. This effectively qualifies her for this event providing no other Irish athlete runs the A-standard for this event.
• Laura Reynolds knocked almost 1 minute off her previous 20km walk P.B. at a race walking meet in Naumburg, Germany. Her new best time of 1:34:40hrs is just 70 secs outside of the A-standard time of 1:33:30hrs which she needs in order to join Olive Loughnane in London.
• Joanne Cuddihy edged even closer to the A-standard in the women's 400m with a season's best run of 51.69secs at the Australian National Championships in Melbourne and she is now just 0.14secs off the required time. Surely it is only a matter of time now before she cracks the time and I would expect her to be sub 51 seconds at some stage this season.
• Steven Colvert opened up his season with an impressive time of 20.93secs for the 200m at the Bryan Clay meet in California. It is his fastest opening to a season so he could be challenging the qualifying time at some stage this year. His P.B. is 20.76secs but needs to go as low as 20.55 to make London. Not impossible given his good start to the year but it will be difficult.

Athletes in bold have achieved the A qualifying standard.
Athletes in red have achieved the B qualifying standard.
(A) = A standard
(A*) = A standard but selection not guaranteed as more than the maximum quota of athletes have met the A-standard for that event.
(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|20.93secs|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|3:43.75mins|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|2:16:42hrs (B*)|2:17:23hrs (B*)|2:17:23hrs|
Gary Thornton|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs|2:17:29hrs (B*)|2:19:29hrs|
Thomas Fraser|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs|2:20:00hrs|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|53.20secs|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|51.69secs (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|15:28.22mins|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 (A*)|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:36:20hrs (A)|2:36:20hrs|
Ava Hutchinson (A*)|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:35:33hrs (A)|2:42:48hrs|2:35:33hrs|
Maria McCambridge (A*)|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|
Caitriona Jennings (A*)|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:36:17hrs (A*)|2:43:08hrs|2:43:08hrs|
Breege Connolly|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:40:25hrs (B*)|2:50:35hrs|2:40:25hrs|
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|1:34:40hrs (B*)|1:35:34hrs (B*)|1:34:30hrs|

knockcon

On the cycling front Dan Martin put in a massive display at liege Bastogne liege. Finishing 5th in one of the toughest classics. He is progressing really well. Revised hopes for London if he can get into a breakaway?

Dan man

knockcon wrote: »

On the cycling front Dan Martin put in a massive display at liege Bastogne liege. Finishing 5th in one of the toughest classics. He is progressing really well. Revised hopes for London if he can get into a breakaway?

Dan Martin put in a very impressive ride yesterday and earler in the week he was 6th in another of the classics, the La Fleche Wallonne. The men's road race makes for an exciting morning of competition for Irish fans on day 1 of the Olympic Games. Dan indeed is good enough to make a huge impact in that race, he would need to get into a breakaway at some stage as you say though as he isn't renowned for his sprinting. It's a pity the Olympic course isn't more testing because that would really suit Dan Martin. The course is relatively tame, more than likely to give Mark Cavendish a decent shot of being led out for a sprint for gold at the end of the 250km course.
In other cycling news, Nicholas Roche finished 26th in the general classification in the four stage Giro del Trentino, over 9 minutes behind the overall winner Pozzovivo of Italy.
Up next for Dan is the six day Tour de Romandie which gets underway tomorrow.

knockcon

Roche's performances this year and last year have fallen off from the high's of 2010. How do you think he is set in terms of form? He will most likely have had a grueling TDF, Giro or Veulta under his belt come the time of the Olympics. I also don't think the course is suited to him, so i guess the Irish lads will really have to work as a team in order to get someone (most likely Dan Martin) into a position to attack. The facts are that Team GB will be 100% sacrificing themselves to set Cavendish up in a sprint. Ireland (and any other country without a pure sprinter) will need to be strategic in order to avoid this.

Dan man

knockcon wrote: »

Roche's performances this year and last year have fallen off from the high's of 2010. How do you think he is set in terms of form? He will most likely have had a grueling TDF, Giro or Veulta under his belt come the time of the Olympics. I also don't think the course is suited to him, so i guess the Irish lads will really have to work as a team in order to get someone (most likely Dan Martin) into a position to attack. The facts are that Team GB will be 100% sacrificing themselves to set Cavendish up in a sprint. Ireland (and any other country without a pure sprinter) will need to be strategic in order to avoid this.

It'll be hard for any of the danger men to get away from the bunch also as they'll be marked men. It'll be fascinating to see how it all plays out, I always love watching the Olympic road race on the first morning/afternoon of the Olympics, would be great to see a real tactical race with lots of attacks.
Nicholas will probably be targeting a top 10 in the Tour de France this summer and it's hard to know how fresh (or not as the case may be) the legs will be for the Olympic race. It could well be a good year for him yet, would be great to see him well up there in the GC in the Tour de France.
Let's hope though that the selectors actually pick the right guys for London first and foremost, their selection criteria doesn't sound the most sensible approach for a good Olympic performance from what I read recently:

http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6147.shtml

Dodge

Shocking selection criteria. Openly criticised by Dan on twitter. It'll be Dan, Nico and one of the rest. I hope its Brammieir as he's ok in small bunch finishes should be allowed sneak away in a break. The Irish team is too small to work for each other. maybe if we have 2/3 in a selext group they can play the number but it'll be GB (for Cav) trying to control it while the Spanish, French etc try to animate it. None of our 3 are expected to medal due to the course

But Dan Martin is only of a handful of genuinely world class Irish sports stars around, and will be winning races for the next decade.

Dodge

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/boxing-world-final-to-seal-london-for-taylor-3090803.html

By the way, this article seems to suggest it'll b harder than first though for Taylor to qualify for Olympics. I disagree with the ton completely. Also this line

It has emerged, however, that in conjunction with the Continental Quota System, just three places can be won in competition. The fourth berth will be awarded by invitation.

means taylor will be selected even if the unthinkable happens. There's absolutely no way she won't be given that wild card invitation

Dodge

Lisa kearney has qualified in Judo. just waiting on it to be confirmed but Judo ireland have been informed

Irish Judo Association

see previous post

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056619361

regards
Deirdre
Irish Judo Association

Dodge

Thanks Deirdre. great news

Oh and apologies for not putting the full association name

Dan man

Caitriona Jennings recent A-standard for the women's Olympic marathon has provided the selectors with a headache in terms of which three qualifiers they will select for London. She has also done a good job at mucking up some of my tables on Irish Olympic qualifiers for London!
Nothing that a good old * symbol can't sort out though. So instead of replacing the table of qualifiers by county with a brand new table I will instead take the lazy option of keeping all 4 girls on the list until the selectors have made their decision on who is going to London.

Another update and it's very positive news: Lisa Kearney has qualified for the Olympics in the -48kg division in judo thus becoming Ireland's first female Olympic judoka. This brings our Olympic quota of guaranteed qualifiers to 40 athletes (including Chloe Magee in badminton). With Gavin Noble (triathlon), Natalya Coyle, Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe (both Modern Pentathlon) and Scott Evans (badminton) all positioned well to challenge strongly to qualify in their respective disciplines and chances in women's relay teams in both athletics and swimming and a number of runners expected to challenge the A-standard times this summer then the final total should comfortably exceed 50 in the Irish Olympic team. There is also hope that the number of Irish combinations in the three-day Eventing could increase from 3 to as many as 5 due to other countries being unable to fulfill their quota of qualifiers. Anna Merveldt is also listed as a reserve for the Individual Dressage and although it is unlikely that she will get an Olympic starting place, there is still hope for her as she is high up the list of reserve list of riders.
So with just 92 days until the opening ceremony and around 10 weeks until the qualification period officially comes to an end (sooner in most sports) our athletes are entering a critical period in their Olympic preparations. Here is a list of current Irish qualifiers by county:

* denotes the fact that the current number may reduce by one when the women's marathon team is finalised.

County|Number of athletes qualified|Details|
Dublin|8*|Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson, Maria McCambridge, Deirdre Ryan, Annalise Murphy, Mark Kenneally, Barry Murphy, David Burrows
Cork|5|Derval O'Rourke, Olive Loughnane, Robert Heffernan, Ciaran O'Lionaird, Peter O'Leary
Antrim|4|Ryan Seaton, Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes, Lisa Kearney
Donegal|3*|Brendan Boyce, Chloe Magee, Caitriona Jennings
Down|2|Matt McGovern, Martyn Irvine
Wexford|2|Grainne Murphy, Adam Nolan
Wicklow|2|Fionnuala Britton, Stephanie Reilly
Derry|1|Aileen Morrison
Galway|1|Paul Hession
Kilkenny|1|Darren O'Neill
Westmeath|1|John Joe Nevin
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 21 men and 15 women and 5 unknown equestrian riders. The number of women qualifiers however will be reduced by one when Athletics Ireland choose their marathon team.
• Qualifiers by province: Leinster (14), Ulster (10), 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. Caitriona Jennings rather ironically hails from Letterkenny but runs for Rathfarnam A.C. in Dublin.
• So far, just as many Corkmen as Dublin men have qualified (3 a-piece).
• 7 qualifiers were born in Northern Ireland.
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murphy is the most common surname, with 3 Murphys on the team.
• Maria McCambridge is the oldest member of the team, she will be 37 when the Olympic Opening Ceremony takes place and the youngest being Grainne Murphy who is just 19. David Burrows is the oldest man on the team (will be 35 in May) and at just 20 boxer Michael Conlan is the youngest male.
• The average age of our women when the Olympics get underway is 28.6yrs for women and 27.6yrs for the men. Overall the average is 28.0yrs for our Olympians.
• 21 of the qualifiers will be first-time Olympians in London; 7 qualifiers are returning for a second time with 6 of these 7 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

Irish Judo Association wrote: »

see previous post

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056619361

regards
Deirdre
Irish Judo Association

Superb news and delighted for Lisa. She will be Ireland's first ever female judoka to take part in an Olympic Games.

feargale

Dodge wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/boxing-world-final-to-seal-london-for-taylor-3090803.html

By the way, this article seems to suggest it'll b harder than first though for Taylor to qualify for Olympics. I disagree with the ton completely. Also this line

It has emerged, however, that in conjunction with the Continental Quota System, just three places can be won in competition. The fourth berth will be awarded by invitation.

means taylor will be selected even if the unthinkable happens. There's absolutely no way she won't be given that wild card invitation

Dodge is probably correct re wild card for Katie Taylor. However, that would probably scuttle Joe Ward's chances. They are unlikely to favour this small country twice.
Besides Joe Ward, realistically we probably did as well as one could hope in Trabzon. Our boxers needed to win a total of 24/25 bouts for all to qualify. Assuming ours were of average quality, and that the others would be tryeing just as hard, the figures would suggest one, or at most two qualifiers.
Wards best hope lies in some of the big powers, e.g. Britain, Germany or Russia, protesting their treatment at Trabzon.

Pisco Sour

I appreciate that road cycling is largely a team sport but who goes to the Olympics just to help some other guy win? It's ridiculous. It should be each man for himself. Having a bunch of british guys there just to help Cav, rather than actually trying to win themsellves, really takes the gloss out of the race IMO.

knockcon

It is not the only instance where teams feature strongly in individual events. Middle distance running is rife with it. It's accepted as part and parcel of the sport that athletes sacrifice themselves for a team mate with a better chance of winning a medal. Cav will have a very strong team riding for him. Wiggins has said as much. When Stephen roche won the world title in87 the intention i think was to get Kelly into the sprint but he missed the break.

swim2

http://www.olympicsport.ie/news/4883-tri-nations-swimming.html
Chris Bryan didn't do great in the 10k in Cancun Mexico on Tuesday, but yesterday in the 15k he came 8th overall! great result. All experience for him.
There is only one qualifying event for him, in Portugal in June so he is training towards that.
Hopefully he will become the first Irish person to qualify for open water for the Olympics.

Dan man

swim2 wrote: »

http://www.olympicsport.ie/news/4883-tri-nations-swimming.html
Chris Bryan didn't do great in the 10k in Cancun Mexico on Tuesday, but yesterday in the 15k he came 8th overall! great result. All experience for him.
There is only one qualifying event for him, in Portugal in June so he is training towards that.
Hopefully he will become the first Irish person to qualify for open water for the Olympics.

Fingers crossed he'll pull it out of the bag in Portugal, the water temperatures could well be an issue in May.

29th place for Chris in Cancun for the Olympic distance. There are a couple of positives however....it was his season opener as he did not compete in the other World Cup races in Brazil or Eilat (Israel) and he also swam well for a large part of that race so he has a decent platform to prepare over the next month or so.

Dodge

04072511 wrote: »

I appreciate that road cycling is largely a team sport but who goes to the Olympics just to help some other guy win? It's ridiculous. It should be each man for himself. Having a bunch of british guys there just to help Cav, rather than actually trying to win themsellves, really takes the gloss out of the race IMO.

You've no understanding of cycling if you think it takes the gloss out of the race. Its part of the sport. Its as simple as that. Even without teammates, cyclists would need to work together to force a break away or haul one back in. Its natural that a team works.

It chould be noted that unlike World Champs and other big races, the teams in the Olympics are limited to 5 for the top nations. That means its far harder to police the race. In the professional era countries such as Denmark, Latvia, GB (when it was rubbish) and Portugal have all won medals too

Dan man

04072511 wrote: »

I appreciate that road cycling is largely a team sport but who goes to the Olympics just to help some other guy win? It's ridiculous. It should be each man for himself. Having a bunch of british guys there just to help Cav, rather than actually trying to win themsellves, really takes the gloss out of the race IMO.

That's a very simplistic view of the sport, if you watch cycling you will see how tactics plays a major part in each race. It is the fact that team tactics shapes how the race unfolds makes it all the more interesting as far as I'm concerned. Each man for himself over a 250km course would be a sure way to take the gloss out of the race IMO.

Pisco Sour

Dan man wrote: »

That's a very simplistic view of the sport, if you watch cycling you will see how tactics plays a major part in each race. It is the fact that team tactics shapes how the race unfolds makes it all the more interesting as far as I'm concerned. Each man for himself over a 250km course would be a sure way to take the gloss out of the race IMO.

I have a reasonable understanding of cycling. Watched the Tour de France in depth every year from 1997 until a couple of years ago (have missed the latest ones being away from Europe). I find the sport facinating, and the team aspect is interesting. I enjoy the strategy of it all and I very much understand how it works.

But I feel for the Olympics it should be different. It is the greatest sporting event on the planet. There are millions of people out there trying (and failing) to have the honour of becoming any Olympian and COMPETING to the best of their ability. I really don't think riding to help somebody else win fits in with the whole Olympics spirit. I know it goes on in middle distance running but that doesnt make it right. I remember after Sonia's silver in Sydney, somebody asked Gete Wami (who won Bronze) why the 3 Ethiopians didn't run as a team and her answer was "this is the Olympics. You shouldn't do that" or something to that effect.

Dodge

04072511 wrote: »

But I feel for the Olympics it should be different. It is the greatest sporting event on the planet. There are millions of people out there trying (and failing) to have the honour of becoming any Olympian and COMPETING to the best of their ability

But not cyclists. Thats the point. In cycling, its natural to work together. So trying to change the nature of the sport for the olympics would be more damaging. its fine the way it is

Pisco Sour

Dodge wrote: »

But not cyclists. Thats the point. In cycling, its natural to work together. So trying to change the nature of the sport for the olympics would be more damaging. its fine the way it is

Fair enough. I'd struggle myself personally with the idea of going to the Olympics to help some other guy win, rather than trying to achieve my true potential and see how high up I could finish.

It's all well and good with sponsored professional teams where each person is paid to do a job, but when representing your country should it not be different? It gives certain guys a better chance of winning simply because of what country they are from.

In any case, I'll be watching