DERVAL O’ROURKE, CIARAN O’Lionaird and Ben Reynolds are the only names in what Athletics Ireland has called ‘a small but quality’ travelling group for the imminent World Indoor Championships.
O’Rourke has not competed in the championship since winning gold in 2006.
This season the Leevale athlete has been disappointed with some of the times recorded.
O’Rourke, however, credited them in part to a niggling foot injury and is confident that when it comes time for a big race, she can return to the top form which peaked with an Irish record of 7.84.
The championships begin in Istanbul on 9 March and in addition to the three athletes, we will also be sending four members of team management.
Kevin Ankrom is one of those and he said of the selection:
“For the likes of Derval, Ciaran, and Ben this is the beginning of a long season and just one piece of the overall building process towards London.
“At any championship we are looking for our athletes to compete at a high level and it will be a litmus test of their programme and a great opportunity to compete against other world class competitors.”
Like O’Rourke, Reynolds will compete in the 60 metre hurdles. This will be his first time representing Ireland after recording the qualifying standard whilst breaking his Irish U23 record with a time of 7.74 seconds.
O’Lionaird will run in the 1500 metre event. The Cork man is currently training out of the prestigious Nike centre in Oregon and he too is confident of making hay in Turkey.
Tactically
“The competition will be really tough,” said O’Lionaird, “but my preparation has gone very well but I need to be tactically aware in order to make sure I progress to the final. I am hoping to improve on my placing from Daegu and gain more experience for London.”
Ireland could have provided more than just a trio of athletes to the championship. In the 400 and 1500 metres (respectively) Brian Gregan and David McCarthy have each chosen to focus on other events.
Gregan, of the Clonliffe Harriers club in Dublin, will turn his concentration to Helsinki and June’s European Track and Field Championships.
McCarthy, originally from Waterford, will be racing in the US for Providence College in the NCAA Indoor Championships.
