Marathon wait for Irish quartet hoping for Olympics selection

They say everything can be replaced. That every distance is not near.

Now try singing that to the athlete who just misses out on the Olympics. Because it’s not this once every four years we hear about as much as once in a lifetime, and why missing out, or rather losing out, can be equally life-defining as the moment of selection.

And only 97 days to go! No one does this cheap countdown better than the Olympics. Yet there is something hauntingly real about the lessening of days, these little bells of reminder for the athletes utterly consumed by Rio de Janeiro, or those still dreaming of getting there.

Like in Dublin on Wednesday afternoon, when the Olympic Council of Ireland rolled out a selection of athletes already qualified for Rio, marking the 100-day countdown to the opening ceremony – each of them beaming with pride long before stepping inside the Maracanã Stadium on Friday, August 5th.

For some it’s taken much more than four years. David Oliver Joyce was there, one of six Irish boxers so far qualified for Rio, and for him it’s unquestionably a lifetime ambition realised. The 29 year-old from Athy missed out on both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 thanks to some dodgy judgements, his mesmerising reaction at securing a lightweight berth at the European qualifiers in Turkey earlier this month perfectly justified by such a defining triumph.

Lifetime ambition

Likewise with his cousin Joe Ward, still only 22, and who must have wondered if his lifetime ambition would ever be realised when also missing out on London 2012 (after a final qualifying fight which everyone bar the judges believed Ward he had won). Such was his desire to get there Ward took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on the eve of the Games; still it wasn’t to be. Now that he’s made it to Rio expect him to fight like the life-defining moment it has become.

Others have made it Rio the hard way too. Four years ago, Oliver Dingley finished second in the British Olympic diving trials for London 2012, only for the diver who finished third to be selected ahead of him. Somewhat soured by that experience, Dingley switched allegiance to Ireland, his grandmother being from Cork. Now that Dingley has made it the achievement must feel life-defining.

There’s one Olympic selection race heating up which will prove why missing out, or rather losing out, feels so life-defining. It’s to decide which three Irish athletes get to compete in the Rio Olympic marathon, more so on the men’s side although on the women’s side too. As things stand, eight Irish men have run under the necessary qualifying standard of 2:19:00, although in reality only the leading four are in contention for the three selection places; Kevin Seaward, Mick Clohisey, Sergiu Ciobanu, and Paul Pollock – although not necessarily in that order.

Indeed therein lies the problem: Seaward is the fastest qualifier with his 2:14:52 from Berlin last September, followed by Clohisey (who ran 2:15:10 in Seville last month), then Ciobanu (his 2:15:14 also run in Berlin), and then Pollock (his 2:15:38 run in Berlin too).

Pollock, however, is arguably the best marathon runner of the lot, finishing 14th in last month’s World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, two minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Seaward, and three minutes and 44 seconds ahead of Ciobanu. Pollock was due to run last Sunday’s London Marathon with a view to proving that status, only for a foot injury to force his withdrawal. He probably could have run, although with that most likely damaging his chances of recovering in time for Rio.

So Athletics Ireland must decide which three get to go, and which one misses out.

Likewise for the three women’s places, where five athletes have run inside the standard of 2:45:00: Lizzie Lee (2:32:51) and Fionnuala McCormack (2:33:15) are significantly ahead of the others to guarantee their selection, which leaves Breege Connolly (2:37:29), Gladys Ganiel-O’Neill (2:38:53), and Barbara Sanchez (2:39:49) vying for that third spot. Maria McCambridge is planning one more assault on that qualifying time before the Monday May 23rd selection deadline, possibly throwing her name into the hat too.

Outdated deadline

Critics of this outdated deadline (myself included) must at least respect it was agreed as far back as January 2015, when Athletics Ireland first laid out its selection criteria. Still, while most countries have agreed their Rio marathons selections by now (the British runners announced in the wake of Sunday’s London Marathon), the Irish qualifiers, particularly the men, are left in limbo for another three weeks.

“To change those goalposts now would be unfair,” says Kevin Ankrom, Athletics Ireland high performance director, and the man chairing that selective decision. “And in all fairness I think our terms of selection are robust.”

That might sound fair enough, although with nothing changing on the men’s side between now and May 23rd, would it not be fairer to tell them now, which three are going to Rio, which one is missing out? There is after all an appeal process there, which is likely to reinforce why missing out, or rather losing out, can be equally life-defining as the moment of selection.