Derval O'Rourke charged €10 to train at ALSAA

thirtyfoot wrote: »

There are of course your jumped up lads who think its more important to flex some muscle (even politely) than accomodate those who the track was built for and its usually a balancing act to keep them onside. Its funny, I'd imagine non-athletes would never have assumed track staff diplomacy was such a key part to being an athlete, but there you go, it is.

I did security work for years to earn extra cash. This was mainly blazer work in football clubs. One of the first things you are told is that you are there to enforce the rules that the club has put in place. I've had to stop international footballers a lot better known than Derval from walking into the players lounge because they didn't have the correct ticket on them. Petty? Yes. Paid to use common sense? No.

dna_leri wrote: »

There was a divot on the track at ALSAA and DoR injured her ankle?
Now that is a story, how come the press have not reported this?
Is she going to sue them?

Oh, you mean she didn't, but she could have.
Or maybe its just a slow news day.

Find me a dedicated T&F athlete at any level who has not jumped the fence and I show you an oxymoron.

Oh sorry, if every T&F athlete does it then it must be OK. Do these athletes kick up a fuss when told to GTFO if caught?

If DoR had injured herself (I never suggested she had) then the club may have been exposed to a payout due to loss of earnings etc (especially this year where athletics' profile will be high, and thus endorsements more lucrative) - No privately owned facility should be expected to expose themselves to this risk just because someone fancys a run. If you want to use facilities - ASK, otherwise feck off down to a public park to do your training

I don't think insurance was the issue. She'd be covered by AAI insurance wherever she trains.

As a matter of interest, what does ALSAA stand for?

The guy that chucked derval o rourke off was indeed just doing his job and is totally blameless here. Didn't the Offaly hurling team get chucked off their own county ground in Tullamore last summer. That too was some guy just following instructions. Both incidents seem completely ridiculous. I think its a damning indictment of the organistation of athletics in this country that one of our top athletes has to cruise around north county dublin in search of a track to train on. It wouldn't exactly fill you with optimism for the london olympics. Thats a debate for another day however. As regards to Derval being perceived as an arrogant so and so that is part and parcel of being an elite athlete and should not be held against her. Her focus was on getting a session in irrespective of what would happen. It is this singled minded approach that has brought her to the level she is at and she should not be condemed for this. Elite sportspeople exist in a bubble and may have no concept as to what constitutes normality. 24 hours a day and 365 days a year everything she does is geared towards getting over a set of hurdles in as quick a time as possible. This is not a normal life and therefore the normal expections in terms of behaviour of a person does not apply. Of course she should have gained prior permission before using the track but the notion of this wouldn't have even crossed her mind. This is not because she is arrogant or she felt that everybody should know who she is or whatever. She had a session to do, a goal to be attained for that day and that was the end of it. I think Derval is a credit to this county. I heard the interview on Newstalk and can understand how it may have rubbed some people up the wrong way. People don't like it when a sportsperson actually has something to say for her/himself rather than the usual anodyne safety net answers such as "sure I'll go and do my best and see what happens." What I heard on newstalk was an articulate insight into the life of an elite athlete preparing for the biggest event in the world. I for one am looking forward to seeing her compete.

I agree M/s O' Rourke should have informed the facility she need to train. But to me it seems there is a lack of communicaions between the staff and management of A.L.S.A.A. The management of any facility shoul be welcoming olymipic athelets and using this to promote their facility. God knows we have few enough top class facilities in the country.