Clock is running in search for Olympic times

ATHLETICS/News: Several of Ireland's top athletes have now headed to warmer climes as part of their efforts to secure qualifying marks for the Athens Olympics. The June 30th deadline set by the Olympic Council of Ireland has heightened the need for early season form, with certain athletes eyeing qualification over the coming weeks.

Yesterday saw sprinter Gary Ryan start a six-week training break in Australia, where he has also lined up three 200-metre races with a view to securing the necessary standard for Athens. Sprint coach Jim Kilty currently has a group of athletes training in San Antonio, Texas, with South Africa the popular destination for distance runners.

So far just nine athletes have achieved the necessary standards for Athens, including Sonia O'Sullivan, who this week moved to her altitude training base at Falls Creek outside Melbourne. O'Sullivan's more immediate target remains the World Cross Country in Brussels in late March, before she turns her attention to the track.

A more popular stop-off before Athens will be the World Indoor Championships, which take place in Budapest from March 5th-7th. Already 10 Irish athletes have qualified and most of them will be using the championships as a springboard to the Olympics.

Ryan is firmly committed to the World Indoors no matter what happens in Australia over the coming weeks. Last summer he clocked 20.72 over the 200 metres, and is confident he can hit the 20.59 A-standard for Athens before the end of June.

"I honestly thought I would have got closer to the time last year," says Ryan, who has based himself in Melbourne. "And I definitely feel I can go marginally faster this year. I'm happy with the way things have gone so far so hopefully everything can fall into place. I'm optimistic anyway.

"But Australia is not the be all and end all in terms of qualifying. It's partly building towards it. And I feel it's much better to get three outdoor races than three indoor races. Hopefully I'll run well out here, and put down something of a marker. My aim is to get A-standard, but I won't be devastated if it doesn't happen in Australia."

In terms of qualification Ryan admits the June 30th deadline set by the Olympic Council of Ireland has significantly narrowed the window of opportunity. The IAAF deadline is August 9th, less than two weeks before the athletics events start in Athens, and which allows for far more opportunities during competition at the height of the season. Yet Ryan is pressing on nonetheless. "Yeah, it's not ideal," he says, "but we've all known it for a while now and just got on with it, and planned accordingly. And that's why so many of us have gone away at this time of the year."

Although he turns 32 next June and has already been to two Olympics, Ryan has lost none of his ambition to compete with the best sprinters in the world. In ways the Nenagh athlete, who now lectures part-time at the University of Limerick, is more motivated than ever.

"To be honest I'm a lot more inspired to make these Olympics. Sydney was a great Olympics to be a part of but I had wanted to go as an individual as well as the relay, and I didn't do that. Back in Atlanta I was very raw and didn't know a lot about myself. Last year gave me great encouragement again. And I know a lot more about myself in terms of how to train and prepare.

"If I can bring those improvements I've made in the training to my races I feel I can make it. But it's not just a matter of going there to take part. I'm going there to do as well as I can, if that means making the second round or the semi-final or whatever. And that's the attitude of all the Irish. No one goes to the Olympics to make up the numbers."

Elsewhere, James Nolan and Cathal Lombard, who have qualified over 1,500 and 5,000 metres respectively, are training in Potchefstroom in South Africa. Nolan will also return for the World Indoors while Lombard hopes to race over 10,000 metres early in the season with the idea of giving him an option for Athens.

Among those training with Kilty in San Antonio is Derval O'Rourke, who has already qualified for the 100-metre hurdles, as well as Ciara Sheehy and Paul Hession, who both hope to qualify over 200 metres. Sheehy clocked 23.40 last summer and needs to run 22.97, while Hession needs to improve his best from 20.80 to the 20.59.

Among the others on the margin of qualification is Peter Coghlan who has based himself in Florida for the winter with an eye on the 13.55 qualifying mark for the 110-metre hurdles. Also chasing qualification in the javelin, though based in the more wintry climes of Switzerland, is Terry McHugh. He needs to throw 81.80 metres, still within his range, which would see him reach his fifth successive summer Olympics.

Ironically, one athlete still training on home soil is race walker Gillian O'Sullivan, who remains Ireland's leading medal prospect. And already not all the overseas trips have gone to plan. Within days of arriving in Australia 1,500 metre runner Maria Lynch suffered a stress fracture of the foot, and will be in plaster for several more weeks.