Top performers delighted to cash in on success

ATHLETICS/Sports Council bonus payments: Derval O'Rourke hasn't run over a hurdle in two months, and reckons she couldn't clear one now if she had to. Gearóid Towey will spend next week in Cyprus doing some running and cycling, with as little rowing as possible.  Ian O'Riordan Reports

This is not two of Ireland's medal winners from 2006 getting lazy but rather a deliberate ploy to replicate their good fortunes in 2007.

Both O'Rourke and Towey were in Dublin yesterday at the announcement of new bonus payments for Irish medal winners under the Irish Sports Council's grants scheme. Twelve athletes benefit this year, which sees them get a bonus 25 per cent of their annual grant for their medal winning performances.

"I don't think any athlete is in their sport for the money," said O'Rourke. "But we all like to get a cheque in the post every now and then. I wasn't even aware of this bonus when I won my medals this year, but it's nice, and does make the whole grants thing a bit more professional."

Having claimed two medals this year - World Indoor gold and European silver - O'Rourke thus secures an extra 25 per cent of her World Class grant of €20,000. Ironically, her grant was cut by 25 per cent after she failed to impress the Sports Council at the Athens Olympics, but she's happy now the recent review of the grants scheme is more beneficial to all.

O'Rourke has two medal targets for 2007 - the European Indoors in Birmingham, and the World championships in Osaka. She's been training twice a day since October but the hurdle work won't begin until next month, and her pre-season focus is on a new programme of plyo-metrics (bounding exercises) designed by IRFU's Liam Hennessy and Tom Comyns.

For Towey, the background work to another medal-winning performance is also well underway, starting with the warm-weather training trip to Cyprus. His role in the lightweight fours winning bronze at the world championships in Eton was particularly satisfying as it marked his comeback from the foiled trans-Atlantic row, after being dropped from the grants scheme entirely after the Athens Olympics.

"I came back from the Atlantic and I was really, really tired," he said, "and wondering if I'd be able to go through with the season. The coach (Harald Jahrling) just told me to come to the trials. But I always wanted to get back, and fairly sure I wanted to go for Beijing again, and it has been a sort of fairytale the way it worked out.

"And any extra support like this is great. In rowing there's no prize money whatsoever. You get a day off, that's about it. So we're delighted with it. The Sports Council are our only means of support, and I have to say our funding is among the best in the world right now, for sure."

Towey and the lightweight crew are already focusing on the Beijing Olympics, where the Chinese crew - that took gold in the World championships - are sure to provide formidable opposition.

"They were very impressive, technically and physically, this year. We've heard more about them since though, and that they've got 2,000 rowers out there training full time. It's like a factory. And we have about 20 people training full time here.

"We'll still have to qualify for the Olympics at the World Championships next summer, by finishing in the top 10. Pre-Olympic year is usually fairly evil when it comes to competitions. So if you can come out of that with some good results you're fairly set up for Olympic year."

2006 Championship Medallists

Derval O'Rourke

World class: €20,000, bonus €5,000. The World Indoor Championship gold at 60-metre hurdles and a European Championships silver in the 100-metre hurdles.

Richard Archibald, Paul Griffin, Eugene Coakley, Gearóid Towey

Contract: €30,000, bonus €7,500. Lightweight Four World Championship bronze medal in Eton.

Kenneth Egan

World Class: €20,000, bonus €5,000. bronze medal in the light heavyweight division at the European Boxing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in July.

Jason Smyth

Contract: €40,000, bonus €10,000. Gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the Paralympic World Athletics Championships in Assen in September.

Katie Taylor

World class: €10,000, bonus €2,500. Gold medal in the lightweight division of the European Boxing Championship for the second consecutive year.

Michael McKillop

World class: €20,000, bonus €5,000. Gold medal in the T37 800 metres at the World Paralympic Athletics Championships in Assen in the Netherlands.

John McCarthy

Contract: €35,700, bonus €8,925. Bronze medal in the F32 Club throw at the World Championships in Assen.

Garrett Culliton

World class: €20,000, bonus €5,000. Bronze medal at the World Championships in Assen in the F52 Discus.

Lisa Callaghan

World class: €20,000, bonus €5,000. Silver medal in Assen in the F37 Javelin.