Irelands most likely Olympic 2012 Medals

Dodge

Line up for for 4x400m relay on Sunday
http://www.eaf.bydgoszcz.pl/pliki/lssz.pdf

Portugal inside, Belgium and Poland inside

Current rankings here;

http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/06/44/08/64408_PDF_English.pdf

At the moment we've 7 seconds on Belgium. Portugal and Poland aren't ranked in top 20

Dodge

https://twitter.com/EuropeBEC/status/208519373948846080

https://twitter.com/Scott_Evans1/status/208525314035429376


Scott Evans gets his place for London. #56 and the 2nd in badminton

Dan man

This table is way overdue an update so here are the latest stats on Team Ireland:


County|Number of athletes qualified|Details|
Dublin|9|Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson, Deirdre Ryan, Annalise Murphy, Barry Murphy, David Burrows, Ger Owens, Scott Flanigan, Scott Evans
Antrim|5|Ryan Seaton, Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes, Lisa Kearney, Hannah Craig
Down|5|Matt McGovern, Martyn Irvine, James Espey, Sycerika McMahon, Melanie Nocher
Cork|4|Derval O'Rourke, Robert Heffernan, Ciaran O'Lionaird, Peter O'Leary
Donegal|3|Brendan Boyce, Chloe Magee, Caitriona Jennings
Wicklow|3|Fionnuala Britton, Stephanie Reilly, Katie Taylor
Galway|2|Olive Loughnane, Paul Hession
Kilkenny|2|Darren O'Neill, Joanne Cuddihy
Kildare|2|Mark Kenneally, Eoin Rheinisch
Wexford|2|Grainne Murphy, Adam Nolan
Derry|1|Aileen Morrison
Fermanagh|1|Gavin Noble
Leitrim|1|Colin Griffin
Longford|1|Derek Burnett
Meath|1|Natalya Coyle
Westmeath|1|John Joe Nevin
Other/Abroad|5|Alistair Cragg (South Africa), Kieran Behan (England), Andrzej Jezierski (Poland), Tori Pena (U.S.A.), Sanita Puspure (Latvia)







Additional Info:

• So far the team is made up of 30 men and 21 women and 5 unknown equestrian riders.
• Qualifiers by province: Leinster (21), Ulster (15), Munster (4), Connacht (3).
• Kieran Behan (gymnastics qualifier) although born in London, England has Irish parents: mother is from Monaghan and father from Dublin.
• Tori Pena was born in California but competes for Finn Valley A.C. in Donegal and her grandmother was born in Derry.
• Caitriona Jennings hails from Letterkenny but runs for Rathfarnam A.C. in Dublin.
• Olive Loughnane was born in Cork and indeed currently lives in Cork so she has strong connections to that county. Neverthless she grew up in Galway and is a product of Carrabane A.C. in Loughrea, Galway so I think in this case it may be fairer to include her in that county's total.
• Mark Kenneally is a member of Clonliffe Harriers in North Dublin.
• Andrzej Jezierski has been living in Ballincollig, Co.Cork for a number of years now with his family.
• 12 qualifiers were born in Northern Ireland (7 men and 5 women).
• Lisa Kearney will be Ireland's first ever female judoka to take part in the Olympic Games.
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murphy is the most common surname, with 3 Murphys on the team.
• Trap shooter Derek Burnett is the oldest member of the Irish Olympic team at 41 years of age. Olive Loughnane is the oldest women on the team at 36 years of age and the youngest being Sycerika McMahon who is just 17! 470 sailor Scott Flanigan is the youngest male on the team at just 19 years of age.
• The average age of our women when the Olympics get underway is 27.0yrs for women and 28.5yrs for the men. Overall the average is 27.9yrs for our Olympians.
• 30 of the qualifiers will be first-time Olympians in London; 10 qualifiers are returning for a second time all of whom have previously competed in Beijing in 2008; 4 qualifiers (Derval O'Rourke, Alistair Cragg, Eoin Rheinisch and Ger Owens) will be appearing in their 3rd consecutive Olympic Games; and a total of 4 Olympic veterans will be returning to the Olympic stage to make a 4th appearance, namely Robert Heffernan, Olive Loughnane and Derek Burnett who will travel to their 4th consecutive Olympics and David Burrows, who made his Olympic debut way back in Atlanta in 1996 (missed out on Beijing).

FitzjamesHorse

I think Melanie Nocher has stronger connexions to County Down than County Antrim.
Belfast my home town is divided by the River Lagan. Most people on the eastern side regard themselves as coming from County Down.
The Belfast hospitals are mostly on the Antrim side of the river.
As Melanie lives in Holywood and swims for Leander (its "home" pool is in Castlereagh/Dundonald) .Id definitely regard her as County Down

Dodge

Also Mark Kennealy lives in Kildare.

Dan man

FitzjamesHorse wrote: »

I think Melanie Nocher has stronger connexions to County Down than County Antrim.
Belfast my home town is divided by the River Lagan. Most people on the eastern side regard themselves as coming from County Down.
The Belfast hospitals are mostly on the Antrim side of the river.
As Melanie lives in Holywood and swims for Leander (its "home" pool is in Castlereagh/Dundonald) .Id definitely regard her as County Down

Good point, I'll fix that now...nice to get the table as accurate as possible and be as fair as I can with the placing of athletes by county....it's very tricky!

Dan man

Dodge wrote: »

Also Mark Kennealy lives in Kildare.

His hometown is given as Dublin but in fact he was born in Celbridge, definitely need to change that....thanks.
And thanks for the input everyone, really helps.

Dan man

I'm hoping those bullet points underneath the list is enough to qualify the situation with regards those with connections to other counties. It can't be perfect though but it's only a bit of fun anyway.

Dodge

Dan man wrote: »

His hometown is given as Dublin but in fact he was born in Celbridge

He lives in Celbridge. Neighbour of a friend of mine. No big deal to me as towns and cities mean more than counties (and even then not much), but thought I'd give you the info

It'd probably save you hassle on the Down/Antrim thing too

Dan man

Dodge wrote: »

He lives in Celbridge. Neighbour of a friend of mine. No big deal to me as towns and cities mean more than counties (and even then not much), but thought I'd give you the info

It'd probably save you hassle on the Down/Antrim thing too

I suppose it would but in the long run it would be way too messy as people have lived in various towns throughout their lives....hard enough keeping up with the county situation!

Dan man

Between them Antrim and Down have a very impressive total on the Irish Olympic team...5 a piece and 10 overall, that's a strong overall percentage. Munster aren't doing too great at the moment but it can change yet...only Cork contributing to the list so far.

K_1

Dan man wrote: »

I'm hoping those bullet points underneath the list is enough to qualify the situation with regards those with connections to other counties. It can't be perfect though but it's only a bit of fun anyway.

No mention of Jezierski there!

Dan man

K_1 wrote: »

No mention of Jezierski there!

Thanks for the heads up, I hadn't noticed that I hadn't explained his situation. Sorted now!

feargale

Kelly Proper attempts long jump qualification at Chaux-des-fonds, Switzerland, and Dan Mulhare seeks same at the European Cup 10,000 m in Bilbao. Do you have the relevant dates, Dan?

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

Kelly Proper attempts long jump qualification at Chaux-des-fonds, Switzerland, and Dan Mulhare seeks same at the European Cup 10,000 m in Bilbao. Do you have the relevant dates, Dan?

Both of those meets are on tomorrow.

CoachDudie

Dodge wrote: »

Line up for for 4x400m relay on Sunday
http://www.eaf.bydgoszcz.pl/pliki/lssz.pdf

Portugal inside, Belgium and Poland inside

Current rankings here;

http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/06/44/08/64408_PDF_English.pdf

At the moment we've 7 seconds on Belgium. Portugal and Poland aren't ranked in top 20

Ireland came 2nd in 3.30, Poland won in 3.29, Belguim were 6 seconds behind us and Portugal were 10.
What does this all mean? Make any difference?
And has the Joe Ward decision been put back?

Dan man

CoachDudie wrote: »

Ireland came 2nd in 3.30, Poland won in 3.29, Belguim were 6 seconds behind us and Portugal were 10.
What does this all mean? Make any difference?
And has the Joe Ward decision been put back?

The time helps Ireland's chances a little more as it is slightly faster than the second counting time of the current 2 times being used to calculate the aggregate score. They remain 12th in the rankings but their overall time is now a little better. Also they have a chance to run a quicker time in Helsinki at the Euro Championships and even if they don't improve on their ranking times now it could well be enough.
I see that Poland who are ranked behind them finished ahead of the Irish team but their time is still not a huge worry for the Irish girls. One more sub 3:28min time for the girls will surely cement their place in London. Belgium and Portugal are not posing any sort of threat to the Irish girls in terms of qualifying with those times today.
No word yet about the Joe Ward situation, all I know is that the decision will be made before June 11th.

CoachDudie

Yeah, I think there's an improvement in them as well. Hopefully we'll see it in Helsinki.
Is there anywhere we can get news on the below?

feargale wrote: »

Kelly Proper attempts long jump qualification at Chaux-des-fonds, Switzerland, and Dan Mulhare seeks same at the European Cup 10,000 m in Bilbao. Do you have the relevant dates, Dan?

Dan man

CoachDudie wrote: »

Yeah, I think there's an improvement in them as well. Hopefully we'll see it in Helsinki.
Is there anywhere we can get news on the below?

The time they posted today improves their ranking time slightly (I edited the previous post). There's been very little news about Joe at all...it's all being kept under wraps....I read some encouraging words recently that Pat Hickey, who holds a very influential position within the IOC has been working hard behind the scenes to get Joe Ward included for London. Let's hope we get the decision we're all hoping for.

Haven't seen the results yet for Kelly...will post them once I get a chance.

Dan man

Apparently we won't know Joe Ward's fate until mid-June as the Tripartite Commission cancelled their meeting last night. This story just keeps dragging out!

knockcon

Cancelled their meeting!!! Fook me! It's not like we're talking about what colour wallpaper to Hang in the kitchen here. This is life changing stuff and there's not a whole lot of time for the athletes to get in the right frame of mind. Sort it out Dan.

Dan man

knockcon wrote: »

Cancelled their meeting!!! Fook me! It's not like we're talking about what colour wallpaper to Hang in the kitchen here. This is life changing stuff and there's not a whole lot of time for the athletes to get in the right frame of mind. Sort it out Dan.

I'll try pulling a few strings...:D

Truman Burbank

Dodge wrote: »

Tripartite invitations are supposed to be used for countries that a) have very little overall representation and b) no representation in that sport

So Lucembourg gets a tennis invite, San Marino gets a shooting invite etc

The only way Joe Ward gets the invite is if the IOC and the AIBA can't find a suitable European boxer and decide to send the European Champion instead. The 'he was robbed' angle won't matter as he also failed to qualify from 2011 worlds

Is this interchangeable with 'wild-card'?
Who decides - IOC and AIBA together? Is there a casting vote from either?
Is there a precedent for "he was robbed", i.e. let's assume there is a suitable European boxer (is there?), can The IOC/AIBA pick him (Joe Ward) without other (Tripartite) nations objecting? Or would they bother objecting given "he was robbed" (and perhaps it could happen again to their boxers or will they want their potential place now?)

Separately, is this the type of invitation Caroline Ryan is chasing?

Dan man

Truman Burbank wrote: »

Is this interchangeable with 'wild-card'?
Who decides - IOC and AIBA together? Is there a casting vote from either?
Is there a precedent for "he was robbed", i.e. let's assume there is a suitable European boxer (is there?), can The IOC/AIBA pick him (Joe Ward) without other (Tripartite) nations objecting? Or would they bother objecting given "he was robbed" (and perhaps it could happen again to their boxers or will they want their potential place now?)

Separately, is this the type of invitation Caroline Ryan is chasing?

The only countries elligible for tripartite invitations are those that had an average of 7 or less athletes at the last 2 editions of the Games (2004 and 2008). The other rule regarding all boxers taking part in the Olympics is that they must have competed at a qualification event.
These 2 rules together mean that no European NOCs are in a position to be awarded the tripartite place.
What should happen in this instance is that the place goes back to the AIBA for re-distribution. The rule is that it should go to the highest ranked non-qualifier at the 2011 Worlds in Baku.

Truman Burbank

Dan man wrote: »

The only countries elligible for tripartite invitations are those that had an average of 7 or less athletes at the last 2 editions of the Games (2004 and 2008). The other rule regarding all boxers taking part in the Olympics is that they must have competed at a qualification event.
These 2 rules together mean that no European NOCs are in a position to be awarded the tripartite place.
What should happen in this instance is that the place goes back to the AIBA for re-distribution. The rule is that it should go to the highest ranked non-qualifier at the 2011 Worlds in Baku.

Will it?

Dan man

On the Caroline Ryan front, having read the qualification system several times, I can see no mention that there are any invitation places awarded in women's road race or individual time trial. This means her only chance would be waiting on re-distribution of unused places in the ranking system...but my feeling is that she is too far back in the pecking order. I'm not certain of this though.

Dan man

Truman Burbank wrote: »

Will it?

I haven't the faintest idea...unless the tripartite commission have the right to switch the invitation spot to a different continent because no Europeans fit the bill then I see nothing that would stand in his way. But politics can play a part I'm told and often it isn't clear cut. It is hugely encouraging that Pat Hickey has been working on Joe's behalf. It might further boost his claim on the place.

Truman Burbank

Dan man wrote: »

I haven't the faintest idea...unless the tripartite commission have the right to switch the invitation spot to a different continent because no Europeans fit the bill then I see nothing that would stand in his way. But politics can play a part I'm told and often it isn't clear cut. It is hugely encouraging that Pat Hickey has been working on Joe's behalf. It might further boost his claim on the place.

Great, thanks for that. Sounds very promising for him. I see the men's boxing finals have sold out, and he deserves to be there with his team and his supporters.

feargale

When Katie Taylor brings home the gold medal, I think I'll go to London to escape the madness.

sleapy235

Should the Bosnian boxer who reached the last 16 not get the invitation based on the criteria? With the system that AIBA use to rank boxers (i.e. based on how the guys that beat them do in later rounds) Ward would be ranked last of those in the last 16. The other Europeans in the last 16 who didn't qualify in Baku were an Azeri and a Bosnian. Azerbaijan qualified a boxer in Trabzon so that would leave the Bosnian as the highest ranked boxer who failed to qualify at the 2011 Worlds (I think when referring to highesst ranked in the criteria this refers to ranking at the 2011 Worlds as opposed to AIBA world ranking). This Bosnian is also a member of the AIBA Road to London programme for boxers from weaker nations, so would be very hard to see the invite not going to him. Also Bosnia has no other boxers qualified.

Dan man

sleapy235 wrote: »

Should the Bosnian boxer who reached the last 16 not get the invitation based on the criteria? With the system that AIBA use to rank boxers (i.e. based on how the guys that beat them do in later rounds) Ward would be ranked last of those in the last 16. The other Europeans in the last 16 who didn't qualify in Baku were an Azeri and a Bosnian. Azerbaijan qualified a boxer in Trabzon so that would leave the Bosnian as the highest ranked boxer who failed to qualify at the 2011 Worlds (I think when referring to highesst ranked in the criteria this refers to ranking at the 2011 Worlds as opposed to AIBA world ranking). This Bosnian is also a member of the AIBA Road to London programme for boxers from weaker nations, so would be very hard to see the invite not going to him. Also Bosnia has no other boxers qualified.

I think the ranking system that you mention is the one they are supposed to use....but as with so many other aspects of this qualification system, it is completely ambiguous and it is not clearly specified...we have to hope that Joe's controversial exit, the fact he only lost on countback at the worlds, the fact that he is higher ranked in the AIBA rankings and both of the opponents who beat them at the worlds lost at the quarter-final stage, and all of the appeals from the IABA and supposedly Pat Hickey, member of the IOC will help Ward edge the decision. But as you rightly say, Bosnia has many things going in their favour too. They have less athletes qualified for the Olympics and none in boxing and the although both the Bosnian and Ward's victors at the Worlds in 2011 lost in the quarters, the Chinese boxer who beat the Bosnian lost to an opponent who went further than the opponent who beat Ward's victor. It is very complicated and not clear cut at all. This is where politics will hopefully swing the decision our way. Also, a different Bosnian fighter fought at the European qualifying event this year suggesting that Ward's main challenger for the invitation spot was either injured for that event or no longer no.1 boxer in his own country.
There's no way of knowing how it's going to go, there are positives and negatives. Won't be surprising either way.

tHE vAGGABOND

Added as a sticky for the duration of the Olympics

Dodge

Oh we're definitely going to need a new thread when it begins.

I started a Daily Diary 4 years ago. lack of Time differences this year will make it easer too

Edit; this is one; http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=56852924

Dan man

Yep I agree....once we know the final team numbers and such we should think about opening a couple of threads to discuss the Irish team, general Olympic news (international news) and things like that. It would be nice though if this thread runs its course...maybe at least until the end of the qualification period (8th July).
Any suggestions about threads/topics/games we could introduce as we approach the Olympics?

Dan man

There is a big event taking place for our Olympic sailing hopefuls this week - The World Cup event, known as the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta is hugely competitive and is taking place in Weymouth, the location of the Olympic sailing competition. This means that this week's competition will give us a good indication of our chances heading towards the Olympics in a few weeks time.
So far, the men's 49er team of Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are performing strongly in their class. They are currently in 12th place after 6 races, having won both races 3 and 4. Additionally, they are actually 10th best nation as there are currently 3 G.B. boats in the top 10. Good start by the Irish duo.
In the women's Laser Radial, Ireland's Annalise Murphy has started fairly solidly and lies in 11th position (9th best nation) overall after 4 races. After tricky low winds on the opening day (low winds does not suit Annalise) she bounced back strongly with 3rd and 4th place finishes in today's races.
The hugely encouraging news so far for the Irish is in the men's Star where Olympic medal contenders Peter O'Leary and David Burrows are leading their class overall after 4 races. As has been stated before, this duo are very strong in the familiar waters of Weymouth and have placed solidly in each race so far, registering 5th, 4th, 2nd and 1st place results in their opening outings. Excellent performance so far and so encouraging pre-Olympics. Fingers crossed they can keep up this incredible form and consistency.
In the men's 470 event, the Irish duo of Ger Owens and Scott Flanigan are lying 23rd overall after 4 races and 19th best nation. Their results are steadily improving and here's hoping they can continue to climb the leaderboard.
Another Irish Olympic bound sailor, James Espey is currently in 40th place overall after 3 races in the men's Laser category.

K_1

Anyone hear how Kelly Proper's long jump went at the weekend?! Can't find results anywhere!

Edit: Found this but it doesn't have womens long jump in it.

Dan man

K_1 wrote: »

Anyone hear how Kelly Proper's long jump went at the weekend?! Can't find results anywhere!

Edit: Found this but it doesn't have womens long jump in it.

No luck either, I also came to that link you've posted and was frustrated to see no mention of women's long jump. No results posted on AAI or other sites either and no mention of any athletes competing at that meet jumping seasons bests from the long jump rankings on either IAAF or EAA websites... the weather was fairly bad over in La Chaux but I wouldn't have thought they'd cancel the long jump unless there was it was hazardous.

knockcon

A couple of things on our cyclists. Dan Martin had a nasty fall at the dauphine in France yesterday. Apparently his collarbone injury may force him to withdraw. This is terrible luck given the tour and Olympics are just around the corner.

Also it looks like roche has some concerns about his own spot in the team. See below, but if ireland don't send him and Martin I'd be amazed

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12038/Roche-hoping-for-no-Olympic-selection-surprises.aspx

Dan man

knockcon wrote: »

A couple of things on our cyclists. Dan Martin had a nasty fall at the dauphine in France yesterday. Apparently his collarbone injury may force him to withdraw. This is terrible luck given the tour and Olympics are just around the corner.

Also it looks like roche has some concerns about his own spot in the team. See below, but if ireland don't send him and Martin I'd be amazed

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12038/Roche-hoping-for-no-Olympic-selection-surprises.aspx

Heads will need banging together if both Roche and Martin aren't picked. Martin's injury isn't as bad as it could have been which is a relief but it was nasty alright. I think he is continuing in the Dauphine criterium so that's a good sign. He is expected to make his Tour de France debut this year and it would be great to see him compete there.
In fact if Dan had suffered a more serious injury setback, this probably would've kept him from being named as part of the Garmin Barracuda team for the Tour de France and in a strange way this might have kept him stay more fresh for the Olympic road race. However, I am really glad he didn't do too much damage and is continuing as I really want to see him in the Tour this year. I want to see him in London 2012 too of course but not at the expense of the Tour de France. His chances of success in London aren't too high due to the flat course layout whereas in the Tour he can really begin to make a name for himself. Would never rule him out though in London as he's got buckets of talent.

feargale

Also it looks like roche has some concerns about his own spot in the team. See below, but if ireland don't send him and Martin I'd be amazed

It appears all will be revealed on Thursday. If competitors are unhappy about the selection criteria why the heck don't they say so at the time? It's a bit late to be raising it now. What are those now favoured by the criteria supposed to say?

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

Also it looks like roche has some concerns about his own spot in the team. See below, but if ireland don't send him and Martin I'd be amazed

It appears all will be revealed on Thursday. If competitors are unhappy about the selection criteria why the heck don't they say so at the time? It's a bit late to be raising it now. What are those now favoured by the criteria supposed to say?

They did mention this before, in fact I think I posted a link somewhere before with Dan Martin blasting the criteria some months ago. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=78344004&postcount=554

Dodge

I follow cycling pretty closely

Sam Bennett is currently ahead of all bar Martin in the Cycling Ireland rankings. martin is assured of his spot if fit.

The team should be Martin, Roche and Brameier, with Brameier doing the time trial. Its a disgrace if at least two of the World Tour guys don't get it. They'll be effectively punished for racing at a higher standard.

Dodge

Boxing Seeds

• John Joe Nevin will definitely be seeded. He’s ranked 4th in the world
  
• Darren O’Neill will be seeded in London. He’s ranked 3rd in the world and won’t move out of top 6. Interestingly there are two Russians in world top 7, and neither is going to the Olympics
  
• Paddy Barnes is almost certain to be among the 6 seeds. He’s currently ranked 6th in the world but the fighters ranked 4 and 5 (Spain, Azerbaijan) haven’t qualified
  
• Michael Conlon is ranked 12th in the world, and 10th of the Qualified athletes. He won’t be seeded in London
  
• Adam Nolan isn’t ranked yet (last ranks 1st June) but his weight division is wide open. The World Number 3 from Hungary won’t be there
  
• Joe Ward, if he’s somehow invited is currently ranked 5th in the world. However I don’t think they’d invite him and then seed him too. On ranking he should make it comfortably
  
• Katie Taylor will, of course, be number one seed.

Being a seed in men’s boxing should see them with a bye through to the last 16 9and 2 wins from a medal)

Dodge

http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/06/44/08/64408_PDF_English.pdf

Updated 4x400m relay rankings. ireland still in 12th place with the run in Poland on Sunday helping lower our time. At this stage its really only the European Championships that can deny us our place.

We have a slight cushion over these European nations (cushion is over two races);
France 1.06s
Turkey 1.45s
Poland 6.59s (outside top 16)
Belgium 7.49s (outside top 16)


We're also ahead of Canada, Brazil. Colombia and Australia. South Africa race at the African championshisp (same time as euros and could sneak in too)

If we get close to the NR set in last year's World Championships we should be OK. That might get us through to the final. If it does, we'd be almost guarenteed a spot in London.

Dan man

At the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, Ireland's sailors are continuing to impress.
In the men's star, the Irish duo of Peter O'Leary and David Burrows have slipped off the top of the rankings but are still sitting in a strong 3rd place overall in a really competitive World cup event, held at the same venue as this year's Olympic regatta. All of their main rivals for Olympic medals are here in Weymouth and a 7th place and 5th place in today's 2 races have ensured that the Irish lads are right up there in contention for honours. They trail the leaders from Brazil by just 3 points and are only 2 points behind the British pairing of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson. Canada are in 4th, 1 point behind the Irish crew and there is a considerable gap to the 5th placed duo from Norway. This is a hugely encouraging display by O'Leary and Burrows with the Olympics now just a matter of weeks away at this very same venue.
In the women's laser radial class, Ireland's Annalise Murphy continues to climb the rankings and is now up to 7th position overall after a race victory and a 14th place finish in today's races. Her consistency has been a little better than usual (would still need to be a little better to challenge for Olympic medals) and she is within striking distance of the medals (14 points adrift) providing she can perform to her highest standards. At her best she is one of the best and in windy conditions (above 15 knots) she is the best, no question about it given all her race victories. She finds the calmer days much more tricky though and can post some damaging scores to her total so lets hope that by the time of the Olympics, the winds will pick up.
In the men's laser, Ireland's James Espey is in 52nd place overall after a 25th and 28th on the water today.
In the men's 470, Ger Owens and Scott Flanigan are down one place overall to 24th after a disqualification in the first race today but followed that disappointment up with a strong 9th place in today's second outing.
In the men's 49er class, Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are continuing to work hard posting a third race victory today, followed by a 9th and a 3rd place. They now sit 9th overall (7th best nation). Their results are really encouraging pre-Olympics and 3 race victories out of 9 is astonishing. A little more consistency in some of the earlier races and they would be in the hunt for glory here.
Overall, it's looking so positive for Irish sailing just weeks out from the Olympic Games. Again they are showing that their familiarity with conditions here at the Olympic venue of Weymouth could prove very fruitful come August's showpiece event. Let's hope we get our first Olympic sailing medal since Moscow 1980. Signs are looking positive so there's no reason not to be optimistic. It's becoming quite a decent possibility now.

FitzjamesHorse

Athletics:
Because I am a sports anorak, I conducted a little experiment tonight.
Prepared spread sheet based on Wikipedia entry on those from all countries qualified in the A standard in all the Track and Field events.
As far as I can make out 98 nations have qualified at least 1 athlete at A standard (Men) and 84 nations have qualified at least one woman athlete at A standard.
Im not sure what this proves.....if anything .....but it looks as if some nations might have slipped back from their former positions as "powerhouses" or "nearly powerhouses" of Athletics....
These figures surprise me
Men:
Austria (athletes qualified 1) Belgium (4) Croatia (3) Czech Rep (9) Denmark (1) Finland (6) Greece (9) Hungary (5) New Zealand (4) Norway (5) Romania (2) Serbia (2) Slovakia (4) Slovenia (2) Sweden (4) Switzerland (4).....Bulgaria (0)
Now I over-state the word "powerhouse" but these are moderately sized European nations who would be expected to have qualified more athletes by now.
On opening day of the Olympics...I would expect a lot more....which is good or bad news for Ireland (???). Has Ireland improved and these nations fallen back or can we expect a surge as people peak" for the Games.
That might well adversely affect say the womens 4x400 relay squad.
Which brings me neatly to the Womens rankings.
.......84 nations but again look at this pattern.
Austria (2) Belgium (3) Bulgaria (7) Croatia (3) Denmark (1) Finland (1) Greece (5) Hungary (4) New Zealand (4) Serbia (3) Slovakia (3) Slovenia (4) Sweden (5) Switzerland (4)
Definitely more to come.

But one plus side might be "B" athletes being sent.
Not done a full analysis but some events seem oversubscribed and others seem short of numbers.....which should mean that at least SOME of our B standard athletes might get into contention.......eg Jessie Barr in 400mH

Dan man

Olympic Countdown Thread opened....this thread should still be used though as a place to update news on the Irish athletes attempting to qualify for the Games.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056662989

Dan man

It was another good day for the Irish sailors at the Skandia Sail For Gold Regatta at the Olympic venue of Weymouth today. In the women's Laser Radial category Ireland's Annalise Murphy is now up to 5th overall (tied on points with the 4th placed sailor) after a powerful day on the water, posting a race victory and following up with a 3rd place in the second race of the day. This incredible form shown in recent days by Annalise underlines how much potential she has going into the Olympics. One day soon she is going to convert her talents into medal winning performances and there's nothing to say that the Olympics won't be the place where she delivers on her potential. Really encouraging that she wins so many races and the fact that Olympics are to be staged at this venue must give her a huge amount of confidence.
In the men's 49er class Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern finished 12th in their only Gold Fleet race of the day and are now in 10th place overall and 8th best nation. Another encouraging display just weeks out from the Olympic Games.
Peter O'Leary and David Burrows who lie in 3rd place overall in the men's Star fleet did not race today due to the inclement weather conditions and it was a similar story for the 470 men and James Espey in the men's Laser.
Irish Olympic sailing is in great shape heading into the Games, there's hope of a podium finish in Weymouth both at this World Cup regatta and a big possibility of further success at the Olympic regatta too in a few weeks time.

Here is a clip gathering the thoughts of Annalise on her performances today and throughout the week:

Dan man

There's also very encouraging news in terms of the possibility of dressage rider Anna Merveldt benefitting from the re-allocation process of unused quota places. It seems that the Colombian team who were awarded 3 quota places for the Olympic dressage competition have still not met the minimum selection criteria in order to take up their allocations. All riders competing in London must achive a minimum qualification score (MQS) of 64% on two seperate occasions but as of yet not one Colombian rider has achieved the score on a single occasion and there is now just 9 days left for them to do so. Therefore it seems highly likely that Anna Merveldt will be receiving a call-up for the Individual Dressage competition in London 2012 as she is first on the reserve list.

knockcon

So I must admit I know zip about individual dressage. How does Anna stack up internationally? If she gets the nod, what can we expect from her?