NORTHERN athletes Kevin Seaward and Paul Pollock can look forward to an appearance in the Olympic Games this summer after the special appeal panel confirmed the Athletics Ireland marathon selections for Rio.
Former Moldovan athlete Sergiu Ciobanu had appealed against his omission from the team announced last week.
Ciobanu, who only qualified to represent Ireland last August, had been ranked third on times but had not been selected seemingly in favour of Hollywood doctor Paul Pollock, who had an undeniably superior competitive record.
Athletics Ireland acknowledged the decision of the panel to deny the appeal of Ciobanu regarding the marathon selection for the Olympics.
“The association would once again like to recognise the disappointment of the athletes not selected who achieved qualifying standards,” read the Athletics Ireland statement.
“The task of the Independent Appeals Committee was to determine whether there was an error of fact or a procedural deficit when the selectors came to their original decision - none was found.”
All selected marathon athletes and reserves are now required to stay in peak physical condition as any injured athletes may be replaced when the Olympic Council of Ireland makes the final team announcements on July 11.
Another Rio-bound Ulster athlete was in sparkling form at the weekend. Ciara Mageean made her seasonal debut over 1500m with a victory at the Flanders Cup in Belgium.
The UCD athlete clocked an impressive 4:08.05s to beat off the challenges of Sweden’s Sarah Lahti in 4:08.91s and Norwegian Kaaroline Grovdal in 4:09.03s.
A number of other Irish athletes also shone at the meeting. Sara Treacy of Dunboyne was fourth in the 3000m Steeplechase and just half a second outside her best in 9:44.56s.
Behind her, Letterkenny’s Ann-Marie McGlynn continued to struggle in coming to terms with the event, finishing 28th overall in 10:43.08s.
Eoin Everard clocked a time of 3:41.73s in the 1500m, while in the 5000m David McCarthy of West Waterford was 10th in 13:42.24s, just ahead of DSD’s Kevin Batt who was 11th in 13:42.82s.
Belfast man Jason Harvey managed only a 55.30s clocking in the 400m hurdles. UCD’s Sarah Lavin finished fourth in the women 100m hurdles final with a time of 13.75s (+0.5s), while Rose Anne Galligan may have been disappointed with her 10th in the 800m recording 2:03.45s.
Marcus Lawlor impressed in the sprints with 10.71s (-1.3s) and 20.91s (+0.6s) timings. Blackrock AC’s 16-year-old Sarah Healy had arguably the best performance at the second BMC Grand Prix of the year in Watford winning the 1500m B race in 4:27.50s.
Claire Tarplee clocked a time of 2:03.29s in finishing fifth in the 800m A race, while City of Lisburn’s Erin McIlveen was second in the 800m B race in 2:06.12s, ahead of Lagan Valley’s Katie Kirk who was sixth in 2:08.03s.
Kirk’s brother Conall made a welcome return to competition with a victory in the 800m H race with a 1:53.29s mark, although training partner Callum Crawford-Murray topped that with a 1:52.98s mark in the C race.
City of Derry’s Fintan Stewart warmed up for next weekend’s Irish Schools’ Championships with a personal best 3:54.51s in the 1500m D race and another City of Lisburn athlete Chris Madden registered a credible 14:48.59s in the 5000m B race.
