Irelands most likely Olympic 2012 Medals

Dan man

Beasty wrote: »

Minor point, but based on last year's points 13th onwards get 30 points each

That would sound about right Beasty based on the points scale from the World Cup (top 12 given different points, then 13 onwards). So I think you are probably right.
Here is where I got my info, not sure about the reliability:

http://totallympics.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1227

FitzjamesHorse

My first post and as an Irish sports anorak I must say how brilliant it is to see this thread.
I was actually at the 1980 Olympics as a spectator......but the best I can do now is TV.
A few points if I may.
Athletics......Id think that Smyth, Cuddihy and Gillick are the best chances to qualify but if all goes right there will be about 20 in London.
Cycling.....as I understand it Cycling Ireland are trying hard to get a competitor into the Womens Road Race anda Cyclo Cross. I also heard rumours of a BMX rider but as this is a comparatively new sport here and info on web sites re rankings seems largely unavailable, Im not so sure.
Swimming....Ive been disappointed but I suspect Chris Bryan will make it and I think some B Qualifiers are likely to be included (regardless of what Swim Ireland say now).
Boxing........up to four more. a lot depends on the draw which means that possible someone like Barnes (although he has more places available) or Egan could lose out. We could have a surprise qualifier for same reason.
The good thing for the boxers is that they are a TEAM and a lot of higher ranked people in their divisions are already qualified.
Wrestling/Tae Kwan Do.....Id like to see a qualifier (Dolly) I think our last qualifier was Russell Dunleavy (aMerican based also).
The stuff I read suggests Jernny Hurley is better prospect than McConnell in TKD.
Gymnastics....Fantastic for Killian Behan and appropriate that he is only (I think) second Gymnast to qualify for us. Perhaps its fitting this is in the year that Shay McDonald (his son was the other one) sadly passed away.
Weightlifting....a few years ago I really rated Wayne Healy.

Triathlon......Morrison is a certainty. Noble is borderline.
Judo.....Lisa Kearney it would be great if she made it. Advantage here might be that Pat Hickey top Euro Olympic man is a Judo guy.

Canoeing......Rheinisch has disappointed and it would be great but unlikely if there was a Sprint boat or two.
Rowing.......used to be a banker of sorts in recent Olympics but what has happened to a country that boasted of Sean Drea, Frances Cryan and the decent LW4.
Some guys from Coleraine will likely make the British team. In previous Olympics they might have chosen Ireland or some would.
Its odd that the best club in Ireland Skibbereen is so comparatively remote with a small catchment area. What has happened to the big city clubs like Neptune, Commercial, Garda.
Rowing seems to be a sport badly in need of re-organisation.

Shooting.... would be nice to see a qualifier but I though there was also an English based pistol shooter (Peter Friend) in the reckoning.
Fencing/Archery/Table Tennis.......continue to disappoint.
Tennis......Niland has followed on. And would need to be in the Top 150 to really stand a chance........even allowing for the fact that no more than four (too generous a quota for the big nations in my opinion) can qualify.
Two places are reserved for "small nations".
Badminton if all goes well......three qualifiers.
Sailing......excellent news but I think that there is still places available (Laser Men perhaps)

Hockey....I dont think Ive ever seen an Irish "team" in the Olympics. The Women have missed out narrowly before.........and Ireland are ranked 2 and 3 ...in the respective Qualifiers. Perhaps on the law of averages alone.....one team makes it.

Equestrian......the Show Jumping team should have made it.......and on rankings Id be optimistic for three riders.
Dressage is borderline but when I looked at the rankings a lot of the big nations had several riders ahead of Merveldt (#60 I think) so this effectively pushes her up the ladder.
Eventing......I just dont get that team at all. Again on rankings they have the best riders outside the teams already qualified and that might give a full team.
I take the point that the highest ranked riders might not necessarily be the best combinations but my understanding (and I might be wrong) that the riders only secured quotas which means that final selection might be different.

Overall, I hope its a large team that goes to London......to include the boost of 18 Hockey people, B Standard, Wild Cards, Invitations etc. Even if most have no real hopes of medals I think being part of a large team boosts the big prospects.

Sparks

FitzjamesHorse wrote: »

Shooting....nice to see a qualifier but I though there was also an English based pistol shooter (Peter Friend) in the reckoning.

There is, but I'm not as up on his progress as I am on the air rifle end of things. He's got a chance to win a quota place in the Europeans in Finland along with Paul and Ray though...

And there's also Gary Duff from N.Ireland who has a chance to win a quota place in Men's Prone smallbore rifle, but he'd have to go to Doha to do so; if we got a wildcard place for 50m rifle, I think he'd be at the top of the list to go.

Dan man

Excellent first post fitzjames, glad you like the thread. Hope you will be making more contributions in the future.
Just to pick up on a couple of points regarding the equestrian, the max number of riders we can enter for individual showjumping is 2 (possibly will be Billy Twomey and Denis Lynch, possibly Dermott Lennon). We will definitely get 2 qualified but that is the max allowed.
Anna Merveldt and her mount Coryolano are going to qualify, will be confirmed end of February.
I agree, the eventing is very complicated but the last time I looked, we had 4 riders in qualifying positions. Australia surprisingly are in the same boat as us in terms that they did not automatically qualify an eventing team and are looking to make up a team from individual qualifiers. Australia are on course to get 5 individuals through as they are dominating the indiv. Olympic rankings, swiftly followed by Ireland.

Anyway, great post... agree with everything you posted.

Dan man

By the way, we better mention Natalya Coyle in the Modern Pentathlon, looks on course for qualification. Really nice girl from what I make of her interviews and works really hard. She is one to look out for come 2016.

Dan man

I will try to explain the Eventing qualifying system to the best of my knowledge. It is possibly the most complicated method of qualification for London 2012. Here goes:

There are 75 quota spots available for the individual competition. If a country qualifies a minimum of 3 combinations for the individual event, then they can enter the team event also. (Note, the individual competition doubles up as the team competition so the riders' scores in the individual competition are the scores also used for team scores).
A country can enter a maximum of 5 combinations for the team competition providing they have 5 riders in qualifying positions and the best 3 riders' scores will be counted in the team scores.

As things stand, 11 countries have automatically qualified a full quota of 5 combinations. These are Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and U.S.A.

Therefore, these countries occupy 55 of the 75 quota spots available for the Eventing competition. Technically, all of these countries might not enter the full compliment of 5 riders and in those circumstances, the quota spot will go back for distribution amongst those countries who have not yet qualified a team.
However, for clarity purposes we will say that there are 20 quota places available for the other nations. It must also be noted that the door is still open for other countries to qualify for the team event so long as they have at least 3 riders qualified through the following ranking process with 5 being the maximum number of riders a team can enter.

There is essentially 8 different rankings determining qualification with each yielding qualifying slots for London.
There are 7 regional rankings and the best rider in each of these regions will book their ticket to the Games. As things stand, here is how those rankings are shaping up (Ireland are in the North-Western group):

• North Western Group (Raf Kooremans/Netherlands)
• South Western Group (Stefano Brecciaroli/Italy)
• Central & Eastern Europe/Central Asia (Alena Tseliapushkina/Belarus)
• North America Group (No rider ranked currently)
• Central and South America (Federico Gonzalo/Uruguay)
• Africa & Middle East (Mandy Mason/South Africa)
• South East Asia/Oceania (Clayton Fredericks/Australia)

These rankings are not finalised so things can change, but as things stand Ireland will have to go to the World Olympic ranking system to look for qualification. Although Michael Ryan is currently in 2nd place in the North Western Group and potentially could overtake the Dutch rider, let's assume for the purposes of this report that those positions were the final ranking positions. Also as there is no rider ranked in the North-American Group, this would suggest that this quota slot will be re-distributed in the world Olympic rankings.

So, with the above 6 combinations occupying qualifying positions via the regional rankings, it means that there are now currently 14 quota spots availbale for the highest ranked riders in the World Olympic rankings.
Any riders who are in qualifying positions in the above regional rankings are discounted in the World ranking system so the top 14 combinations not yet qualified through any of the above criteria will be elligible for London 2012. Remember, each nation is only allowed to enter a max of 5 combinations so any additional riders from the same country can also be discounted.
So, here is the current World Olympic ranking standings, I have placed a Q beside the combinations who are currently occupying those remaining qualifying slots.
* indicates that the combination is currently qualified from the regional rankings
** indicates that the country is already occupying the full quota of riders

1. Clayton Fredericks/Australia *
2. Stuart Tinney/Australia Q1
3. Emma Scott/Australia Q2
4. Shane Rose/Australia Q3
5. Natalie Blundell/Australia Q4
6. Emma Mason/Australia **
7. Christine Bates/Australia **
8. Megan Jones/Australia **
9. Christopher Burton **
10. Raf Kooremans/Netherlands *
11. Alena Tseliapushkina/Belarus *
12. Mykhailo Nastenko/Russia Q5
13. Pawel Spisak/Poland Q6
14. Sam Griffiths/Australia **
15. Craig Barrett/Australia **
16. Nina Ligon/Thailand Q7
17. Michael Ryan/IRELAND Q8
18. Aliaksandr Faminou/Belarus Q9
19. Tim Boland/Australia **
20. Mark Kyle/IRELAND Q10
21. Camilla Speirs/IRELAND Q11
22. Jayne Doherty/IRELAND Q12
23. Stefano Brecciaroli/Italy *
24. Lucinda Fredericks/Australia **
25. Peter T.Flarup/Denmark Q13
26. Bill Levett/Australia **
27. Elaine Pen/Netherlands Q14

So, that's how qualification is going currently (as of 11th january). With 4 combinations currently in qualifying positions things are looking positive for our chances of entering a team and with Ciaran Glynn and Geoff Curran not too far behind the qualifying positions, we may yet qualify the full compliment of 5 combinations. However, by the same token, Mark Kyle, Camilla Speirs and Jayne Doherty, whilst currently occupying qualifying positions are precariously situated in the rankings. These rankings will be finalised on March 1st and with the addition of extra qualfying competitions in the early part of the season, there is a lot of work still to be done for Ireland to secure a decent quota of riders.

One thing I am not sure of is whether riders qualify a quota place for the country or themselves as it is not stated clearly on the qualification criteria. It would be better if Ireland could choose which combinations to enter as some of our stronger riders are not currently in qualifying positions.

Dan man

Ireland has its latest addition to the London 2012 Olympic team with the superb news that Ava Hutchinson has run the A-standard for the women's marathon. The 28-year-old DSD club runner posted a time of 2:35:33hrs in the Houston Marathon to join Linda Byrne on the start-line for the Olympic marathon. The Marathon Mission programme seems to be working a treat. Our athletics squad for London now stands at 13.

Dodge

She was 11th in the Dublin marathin in 2:42:48, so she's shown a trememndous improvement (in her frst year as a marathon runner)
She finished 4th in Houston btw

FitzjamesHorse

Thanks Dan Man.
I usually blog on other topics but a few nights ago decided to set up a "Sports" blog with emphasis on the Olympic sports...
So I routinely follow 50 sports.
Some Irish sports (including minority sports)are easy to follow and have excellent websites. Others seem to put up barriers as if their sport was nobodys business but their own.
I had hoped to post info on my sports site, cleaned from news reports on websites etc but you guys seem to be doing it better than I ever could.
But I will certainly be posting often.

knockcon

It looks like Lisa Kearney struggled at the IJF elite event this weekend. Beaten in the first round i think. Hopefully she can learn from this as she still is quite young. Would be great to see her qualify.

Dan man

knockcon wrote: »

It looks like Lisa Kearney struggled at the IJF elite event this weekend. Beaten in the first round i think. Hopefully she can learn from this as she still is quite young. Would be great to see her qualify.

I'm not too worried by her performance at this tournament. This was the IJF World Masters, as you say it is an elite event in which only the world's top 16 ranked judoka in each category are invited.
She has made history by being the first Irish judoka to be invited to the prestigious event, not bad going at all.
She is young so hopefully she can continue to perfect her skills. She should certainly qualify for the London Olympics which would be a great boost for Irish judo.
Judo is a sport that, with proper funding, Ireland could do well at considering European countries like Belgium, Portugal, Netherlands, Romania and others perform quite well and don't forget Britain do reasonably well also.

Dodge

Irvine well on the way

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10890/Irvine-on-course-for-London-Olympic-qualification.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+velonation_pro_cycling+%28Cycling+News+%26+Race+Results+%7C+VeloNation.com%29

Bella mamma

Beasty wrote: »

Irvine is now up into 7th place in the European Olympic qualification rankings. With 2 events to go I reckon he is 45 points ahead of Denmark, who currently occupy the final qualification position, and crucially 125 points ahead of Poland in 9th place.

The chances of Poland catchng Ireland in the rankings look pretty low - they would have to do better than they have done in any of the qualifying events so far this season, and hope for some reason Martyn Irvine fails to get through the last 2 events (he'll get 40 points just for completing them)

The final 2 qualification events are in London next month, and the World Championships in Melbourne in April

Beasty and Dan Man - RTE and Irish Cycling are reporting him as 8th overall (well done Martyn). Cycling Ireland and The UCI website aren't updated. BTW, the calculation of cycling points isn't my 'chosen subject'!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cycling/2012/0115/irvinem.html

http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6023.shtml

Dan man

Bella mamma wrote: »

Beasty and Dan Man - RTE and Irish Cycling are reporting him as 8th overall (well done Martyn). Cycling Ireland and The UCI website aren't updated. BTW, the calculation of cycling points isn't my 'chosen subject'!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cycling/2012/0115/irvinem.html

http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6023.shtml

I can't be 100% sure until the rankings are updated but I am going by info provided by the U.C.I.

Here is the rankings pre-Beijing World Cup: (click into the Omnium link)
http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTU2Mjk&LangId=1

And, here is the U.C.I. report on points awarded from the Beijing World Cup: (click into Beijing World Cup #2 link)
http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUxNjE&LangId=1

Either way the important thing is the buffer Irvine has built up between himself and the Polish lad.

Bella mamma

Dan man wrote: »

I can't be 100% sure until the rankings are updated but I am going by info provided by the U.C.I.

Here is the rankings pre-Beijing World Cup: (click into the Omnium link)
http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTU2Mjk&LangId=1

And, here is the U.C.I. report on points awarded from the Beijing World Cup: (click into Beijing World Cup #2 link)
http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUxNjE&LangId=1

Either way the important thing is the buffer Irvine has built up between himself and the Polish lad.

Agreed.

And thanks.

What's the story with Caroline Ryan do you know?

Has anyone heard talk of any of the women's cycling team pursuit trio, who didn't qualify, attempting to switch back to rowing 11th hour for London? I don't see their names on selection sheets.

http://www.rowingireland.com/team-selection/

http://www.rowingireland.com/news/ (February assessments)

Dan man

I'm not too sure about that at all, I haven't heard that they were switching (back) to rowing? Did you hear this was the case?

FitzjamesHorse

The only thing that I gleaned from Cycling websites was that there was hope that Ireland would have a woman in the Road Race, as well as a BMX rider and a XTC rider.
If there is Road Racer I would have expected it to be Olivia Dillon. And I think Mel Spath would be the most likely XTC rider notwithstanding Robin Seymours 20th national title.
But the qualification procedure.....ranking based looks totally impossible so I see no basis for that optimism.
The BMX start lines in London will have 30 Men and 14 Women...........and based on Rankings by Nation (at end of May) as well as individual places in World Championships. I just cant see any Irish rider making it.

Bella mamma

Dan man wrote: »

I'm not too sure about that at all, I haven't heard that they were switching (back) to rowing? Did you hear this was the case?

Just today from a random conversation, with a randomer, who had randomely read it in the media.

I'm an armchair supporter.

Dan man

No, it seemed bizarrely optimistic to me too when I read the article. Ryan Sherlock (Irish mountain-biker) was discussing the situation with me earlier in the year and we were saying how this would likely be the first Olympics since the inception of the mountain biking that Ireland will not have a representative. In the past we had Robin Seymour, Jenny McCauley, Tarja Owens, Martin Earley and Alistair Martin. There has been no HP process in place since Beijing unfortunately and this has inevitably had a damaging knock-on effect on our chances.
Olivia Dillon is would certainly seem to be our strongest competitor in the women's road race but she competed in a lot of NRC races in the U.S. for which there sadly is no U.C.I. ranking points available.
Wildcards might be our only chance. I will have a look at the BMX rankings and report back.

Dan man

Bella mamma wrote: »

Just today from a random conversation, with a randomer, who had randomely read it in the media.

I'm an armchair supporter.

Ok, well their chances of taking part in the track cycling programme in London have vanished so it would be very credible to think that they might try their arm at qualifying for the rowing. It has completely passed me by though if this is the case.

Dan man

Can't see any qualifiers for the BMX either coming from the world rankings. Perhaps they have a chance at the world championships where the 3 best nations outside of the qualifying positions in the world rankings will book their tickets to London.

Dan man

Bella mamma wrote: »

Agreed.

And thanks.

What's the story with Caroline Ryan do you know?

Has anyone heard talk of any of the women's cycling team pursuit trio, who didn't qualify, attempting to switch back to rowing 11th hour for London? I don't see their names on selection sheets.

http://www.rowingireland.com/team-selection/

http://www.rowingireland.com/news/ (February assessments)

This may answer some of your questions, Sinead Jennings has switched back to rowing in a last-gasp attempt of finally making an Olympic team:

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2011/11/25/could-sinead-make-olympics-back-in-the-boat/

Can't find any news on Caroline Ryan though.

Dan man

Irish gymanst, soon-to-be Olympian, Kieran Behan has been deservedly awarded a E20,000 grant to help prepare for the Olympics. Hopefully this season will prove to be a platform for even greater things for both himself and indeed Irish gymnastics.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/other/2012/0116/behank.html

Bella mamma

Dan man wrote: »

This may answer some of your questions, Sinead Jennings has switched back to rowing in a last-gasp attempt of finally making an Olympic team:

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2011/11/25/could-sinead-make-olympics-back-in-the-boat/

Can't find any news on Caroline Ryan though.

Thanks. Assumed it was new news and searched January. Must not have come to fruition thou, as the rowing selection link appears up to date.

Dan man

Bella mamma wrote: »

Thanks. Assumed it was new news and searched January. Must not have come to fruition thou, as the rowing selection link appears up to date.

Yeah, and it would have been asking an awful lot to make the necessary smooth transition back to rowing within such a short time frame.

FitzjamesHorse

Boxing
Following the the excellent summary by Dodge, a few days ago, I can add the following.
49kg ......Paddy Barnes is ranked 7th in World and five of the six ranked above him are qualified. With five places available, his chances must be good.
64kg...........Moylette is ranked 8th but all seven ranked above him are thru. One place and one invitation open

81kg.............Ward/Egan. Ward is ranked third. Four of the top six are thru. Three places and invitation available.

Those boxers stand a decent chance
60kg .........David Joyce doersnt seemed to be ranked. Four places plus invite.
91kg........Any other boxer might have difficulty. (1plus 1 place)
91kg plus......C Sheehan difficult for him
69kg.....Again R Sheehan doesnt seem ranked.

What exactly is the position with the WSB boxers? Are they available. I know they are eligible but are their performances not ranked.

I see at least three qualifiers.
91kg.........

Dodge

The places allocated to the WSB was for the 2011 finals.

The rankings are a little skewed too. We tend to be higher ranked than some countries as our boxers are active on the international scene

David Joyce isn't ranked now, but was 7th seed ahead of the world championships in the 60kg division. Eric Donovan is also the 6th highest ranked European not already qualified. With 4 places, either one could grab a spot

Barnes at 49kg, Moylette at 64kg and Ward at 81kg are all the top ranked Europeans that haven't qualified. If the qualifying tournament is seeded, that would be a huge help.

Moylette, despite being European Champion may not even make the team as Ross Hickey is also a very accomlished performer. I think Moylette can medal if he qualifies, but with only one spot up for grabs its going to be very difficult

Beasty

Bella mamma wrote: »

Beasty and Dan Man - RTE and Irish Cycling are reporting him as 8th overall (well done Martyn). Cycling Ireland and The UCI website aren't updated. BTW, the calculation of cycling points isn't my 'chosen subject'!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cycling/2012/0115/irvinem.html

http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6023.shtml

Rankings are now updated on UCI Website, and confirmed as Dan and I indicated. Shane Stokes, who wrote the Irish Cycling article, was simply looking at it from the perspective of Ireland trailing Poland, and did not pick up that they overtook Denmark also

Full Rankings (with European places in brackets)
Aus 1,680
NZ 1,550
GBR 1,470(1)
Can 2,200
Ger 1,170 (2)
Fra 1,083 (3)
Col 1,030
Esp 973 (4)
Ita 810 (5)
Kor 810
Bel 803 (6)
IRL 705 (7)
Den 660 (8)
Pol 580 (9)

Top 8 European ranking teams (not named individuals) qualify

Points for World Cup victory 300 for winning, down to 20 for 12th and 10 for turning up
For World Championships 500 for winning down to 30 for turning up

Dodge

Beasty wrote: »

Shane Stokes, who wrote the Irish Cycling article, was simply looking at it from the perspective of Ireland trailing Poland, and did not pick up that they overtook Denmark also

In fairness, in Sunday's article for Velonation Shane got it spot on (posted earlier by me)
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10890/Irvine-on-course-for-London-Olympic-qualification.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+velonation_pro_cycling+%28Cycling+News+%26+Race+Results+%7C+VeloNation.com%29

his initial Saturday report focussed on Poland, btu he obviously looked into it a bit more

Great news either way

Dan man

Beasty wrote: »

Rankings are now updated on UCI Website, and confirmed as Dan and I indicated. Shane Stokes, who wrote the Irish Cycling article, was simply looking at it from the perspective of Ireland trailing Poland, and did not pick up that they overtook Denmark also

Full Rankings (with European places in brackets)
Aus 1,680
NZ 1,550
GBR 1,470(1)
Can 2,200
Ger 1,170 (2)
Fra 1,083 (3)
Col 1,030
Esp 973 (4)
Ita 810 (5)
Kor 810
Bel 803 (6)
IRL 705 (7)
Den 660 (8)
Pol 580 (9)

Top 8 European ranking teams (not named individuals) qualify

Points for World Cup victory 300 for winning, down to 20 for 12th and 10 for turning up
For World Championships 500 for winning down to 30 for turning up

Just a comment on the Olympic qualification for the Omnium, isn't it bizarre that the Americas continental region (North,Central and South America) will qualify 6 riders for the event, and when you look at the rankings you have to wonder why they are given such a generous portion of the quota positions. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that there needs to be a quota of riders from each continent and I even endorse this stance, however it seems as though 6 riders from the Americas is way too generous. 5 from Asia also might be a little on the generous side also (perhaps 3/4 would have been fairer). While New Zealand and Australia deservedly warrant quota positions based on the rankings, I find it difficult to accept that Oceania be awarded 2 spots as it makes Australia and New Zealand a shoe-in for the quota positions.
My alternative would be to certainly have continental quotas, say Europe (7), Americas (4), Asia (3), Oceania (1) , Africa (1), leaving a healthy 6 remaining positions to be filled up by those who deserve an Olympic spot based on the world rankings.
In any case, the current qualifying system, whilst a bit of a hindrance for Martyn Irvine at the minute, will actually make his chances of a decent finish at the Olympics somewhat easier.

Beasty

Dan man wrote: »

Just a comment on the Olympic qualification for the Omnium, isn't it bizarre that the Americas continental region (North,Central and South America) will qualify 6 riders for the event, and when you look at the rankings you have to wonder why they are given such a generous portion of the quota positions. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that there needs to be a quota of riders from each continent and I even endorse this stance, however it seems as though 6 riders from the Americas is way too generous. 5 from Asia also might be a little on the generous side also (perhaps 3/4 would have been fairer). While New Zealand and Australia deservedly warrant quota positions based on the rankings, I find it difficult to accept that Oceania be awarded 2 spots as it makes Australia and New Zealand a shoe-in for the quota positions.
My alternative would be to certainly have continental quotas, say Europe (7), Americas (4), Asia (3), Oceania (1) , Africa (1), leaving a healthy 6 remaining positions to be filled up by those who deserve an Olympic spot based on the world rankings.

I guess it's a bit like World Cup soccer - they (presumably the UCI) are looking at ways of expanding the sport into areas where it is not so popular. The limitation of 12 track events I guess means that the cycling authorities are really looking to use the Olympics to showpiece this aspect of the sport.

Track cycling is a bit of an odd one though, as there are lots of countries with very little in the way of decent facilities

Dan man wrote: »

In any case, the current qualifying system, whilst a bit of a hindrance for Martyn Irvine at the minute, will actually make his chances of a decent finish at the Olympics somewhat easier.

A very good point - due to the geographic allocations for qualification and the fact that each country can only send one rider, Martyn suddenly starts looking like a possible medal contender. He is very good at the TT and pursuit, and there's a bit of a lottery to the Scratch, Elimination and points races - if he can get it right in those 3 events he will have a pretty good chance.

He's now up to 5th place in the World rankings (assisted by the fact that a lot of countries don't seem to have settled on a single rider for the event, a luxury Ireland really doesn't have, although I guess David O'Loughlin could look to step in if Martyn gets injured)

Beasty

Dodge wrote: »

In fairness, in Sunday's article for Velonation Shane got it spot on (posted earlier by me)
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10890/Irvine-on-course-for-London-Olympic-qualification.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+velonation_pro_cycling+%28Cycling+News+%26+Race+Results+%7C+VeloNation.com%29

his initial Saturday report focussed on Poland, btu he obviously looked into it a bit more

... I suspect he'd been catching up via Boards;)

Bella mamma

Beasty wrote: »

Rankings are now updated on UCI Website, and confirmed as Dan and I indicated. Shane Stokes, who wrote the Irish Cycling article, was simply looking at it from the perspective of Ireland trailing Poland, and did not pick up that they overtook Denmark also

Full Rankings (with European places in brackets)
Aus 1,680
NZ 1,550
GBR 1,470(1)
Can 2,200
Ger 1,170 (2)
Fra 1,083 (3)
Col 1,030
Esp 973 (4)
Ita 810 (5)
Kor 810
Bel 803 (6)
IRL 705 (7)
Den 660 (8)
Pol 580 (9)

Top 8 European ranking teams (not named individuals) qualify

Points for World Cup victory 300 for winning, down to 20 for 12th and 10 for turning up
For World Championships 500 for winning down to 30 for turning up

Damn. And I thought RTE Sport could do no wrong, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=75544944

Re the continental quotas, wasn't there a change, in essence, so Team GB wouldn't sweep-the-boards??

Beasty

Bella mamma wrote: »

Re the continental quotas, wasn't there a change, in essence, so Team GB wouldn't sweep-the-boards??

The change was to equalise the number of men's and women's events at 6 each, with only one competitor per nation per event. That certainly reduces GB's overall medal chances, as they got 2 in some of the individual events in Beijing. They will still be there or thereabouts in each of the 12 events though, as the entire focus of their track team since Beijing has been London 2012

Bella mamma

Beasty wrote: »

The change was to equalise the number of men's and women's events at 6 each, with only one competitor per nation per event. That certainly reduces GB's overall medal chances, as they got 2 in some of the individual events in Beijing. They will still be there or thereabouts in each of the 12 events though, as the entire focus of their track team since Beijing has been London 2012

Tnks. I had read an article similar to this prior, but couldn't recall the specifics, except the point had been that (some) change since Bejing was targeted at reducing British (medal) dominance on the track.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/london-olympics/Cycling-British-track-boss-miffed-over-Olympic-test-event/articleshow/10619514.cms

Dan man

Here is a useful table with Irish athletes that can be updated as the season progresses.
Athletes in bold have achieved the A qualifying standard.
Athletes in red have achieved the B qualifying standard.
(A) = A standard
(B) = B standard
(B*)= B standard, but A standard has been achieved by another athlete in that event.


MEN:ATHLETE|EVENT|OLYMPIC STANDARDS|2012 SEASON BEST|2011 S.B.|PERSONAL BEST|
Jason Smyth|100m|A=10.18secs;B=10.24secs||10.22secs (B)|10.22secs|
Jason Smyth|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.94secs|20.94secs|
Paul Hession|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.51secs (A)|20.30secs|
Steven Colvert|200m|A=20.55secs;B=20.65secs||20.76secs|20.76secs|
David Gillick|400m|A=45.30secs;B=45.90secs||46.64secs (injured)|44.77secs|
Brian Gregan|400m|A=45.30secs;B=45.90secs||45.96secs|45.96secs|
Thomas Chamney|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||injured|1:45.41mins|
Paul Robinson|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:47.31mins|1:47.31mins|
Mark English|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:47.09mins|1:47.09mins|
David McCarthy(1983)|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:46.62mins|1:46.62mins|
Darren McBrearty|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:47.79mins|1:47.79mins|
Dave Campbell|800m|A=1:45.60mins;B=1:46.30mins||1:51.13mins (injured)|1:45.59mins|
Ciaran O'Lionaird|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:34.46mins (A)|3:34.46mins|
Thomas Chamney|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||injured|3:36.83mins|
Rory Chesser|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.94mins|3:40.08mins|
Paul Robinson|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.29mins|3:42.29mins|
John Travers|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.07mins|3:42.07mins|
Darren McBrearty|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||3:42.68mins|3:42.68mins|
Dave Campbell|1,500m|A=3:35.50mins;B=3:38.00mins||injured|3:39.18mins|
Alistair Cragg|5,000m|A=13:20.00mins;B=13:27.00mins||13:03.53mins (A)|13:03.53mins|
Mark Christie|5,000m|A=13:20.00mins;B=13:27.00mins||13:28.21mins|13:28.21mins|
Mark Kenneally|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:13:55hrs(A)|2:13:55hrs|
Sean Connolly|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:17:23hrs (B*)|2:17:23hrs|
Thomas Fraser|Marathon|A=2:15:00hrs;B=2:18:00hrs||2:19:42hrs|2:19:42mins|
Thomas Barr|400m Hurdles|A=49.50secs;B=49.80secs||50.06secs|50.06secs|
Robert Heffernan|20km Walk|A=1:22:30hrs;B=1:24:30hrs||1:20:54hrs(A)|1:19:22hrs|
Robert Heffernan|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||3:49:30hrs(A)|3:45:30hrs|
Brendan Boyce|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||3:57:58hrs (A)|3:57:58hrs|
Colin Griffin|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|3:51:32mins|
Michael Doyle|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|no time recorded|
Jamie Costin|50km Walk|A=3:59:00hrs;B=4:09:00hrs||no time recorded|3:50:51hrs|



WOMEN:ATHLETE|EVENT|OLYMPIC STANDARDS|2012 SEASON BEST|2011 S.B.|PERSONAL BEST|
Ailish McSweeney|100m|A=11.29secs;B=11.38secs||11.89secs (injured)|11.40secs|
Amy Foster|100m|A=11.29secs;B=11.38secs||11.49secs|11.49secs|
Amy Foster|200m|A=23.10secs;B=23.30secs||23.53secs|23.53secs|
Niamh Whelan|200m|A=23.10secs;B=23.30secs||23.87secs|23.30secs|
Joanne Cuddihy|400m|A=51.55secs;B=52.35secs||51.82secs (B)|50.73secs|
Ciara Mageean|800m|A=1:59.90mins;B=2:01.30mins||2:02.31mins (mixed race, not recognised by IAAF)|2:02.31mins (mixed race)|
Ciara Mageean|1,500m|A=4:06.00mins;B=4:08.90mins||4:07.45mins (B)|4:07.45mins|
Fionnuala Britton|5,000m|A=15:20.00mins;B=15:30.00mins||15:21.45mins (mixed race, not recognised by IAAF)|15:21.45mins (mixed race)|
Mary Cullen|5,000m|A=15:20.00mins;B=15:30.00mins||injured|15:19.04mins|
Fionnuala Britton|10,000m|A=31:45.00mins;B=32:10.00mins||no time recorded|no time recorded|
Mary Cullen|10,000m|A=31:45.00mins;B=32:10.00mins||33:02.74mins|32:21.42mins|
Linda Byrne|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:36:20hrs (A)|2:36:20hrs|
Ava Hutchinson|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:35:33hrs (A)|2:42:48hrs|2:35:33hrs|
Maria McCambridge|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:40:26hrs (B*)|2:35:29hrs|
Gladys Ganiel-O'Neill|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs|2:40:56hrs (B*)|2:41:22hrs(B*)|2:40:56hrs|
Catriona Jennings|Marathon|A=2:37:00hrs;B=2:43:00hrs||2:43:08hrs|2:43:08hrs|
Fionnuala Britton|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||9:37.60mins (A)|9:37.60mins|
Stephanie Reilly|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||9:42.91mins (A)|9:42.91mins|
Roisin McGettigan|3,000m Steeple Chase|A=9:43.00min;B=9:48.00mins||no time recorded|9:28.29mins|
Derval O'Rourke|100m Hurdles|A=12.96secs;B=13.15secs||12.84secs (A)|12.65secs|
Jessie Barr|400m Hurdles|A=55.50secs;B=56.65secs||56.62secs (B)|56.62secs|
Deirdre Ryan|High Jump|A=1.95m;B=1.92m||1.95m (A)|1.95m|
Tori Pena|Pole Vault|A=4.50m;B=4.40m||4.40m (B)|4.40m|
Kelly Proper|Long Jump|A=6.75m;B=6.65m||6.45m(indoor)|6.62m (indoor)|
Olive Loughnane|20km Walk|A=1:33:30hrs;B=1:38:00hrs||1:31:55hrs (A)|1:27:45hrs|
Laura Reynolds|20km Walk|A=1:33:30hrs;B=1:38:00hrs||1:35:34hrs (B)|1:35:34hrs|

FitzjamesHorse

Beasty wrote: »

Rankings are now updated on UCI Website, and confirmed as Dan and I indicated. Shane Stokes, who wrote the Irish Cycling article, was simply looking at it from the perspective of Ireland trailing Poland, and did not pick up that they overtook Denmark also

Full Rankings (with European places in brackets)
Aus 1,680
NZ 1,550
GBR 1,470(1)
Can 2,200
Ger 1,170 (2)
Fra 1,083 (3)
Col 1,030
Esp 973 (4)
Ita 810 (5)
Kor 810
Bel 803 (6)
IRL 705 (7)
Den 660 (8)
Pol 580 (9)

Top 8 European ranking teams (not named individuals) qualify

Points for World Cup victory 300 for winning, down to 20 for 12th and 10 for turning up
For World Championships 500 for winning down to 30 for turning up

The British are in the Top 8...but do they not qualify as Hosts anyway?
Thus making another place available.

Dan man

FitzjamesHorse wrote: »

The British are in the Top 8...but do they not qualify as Hosts anyway?
Thus making another place available.

Unfortunately no, there is no allocation for the host country in track cycling as indeed there are no invitational places (although the U.C.I. have reserved the right to do so in exceptional cases).

Dodge

To add to Dan's list, here's some PBs for athletes that would get them the A or B standard

400m - Gillick - 44.77 (a)
800m - Chamney - 1.45.41 (a)
1,500m - Chamney - 3.36.83 (b*)
50k Walk - Jamie Costin - 3.50.51 (a)


100m - McSweeney - 11.40 (just 0.02 away from B standard)
400m - Cuddihy - 50.73 (a)
5,000m - Cullen - 15.18.34 (a)
3,000mSC - McGettigan - 9.28.2 (a)
400mH - Michelle Carey - 56.19 (b)
Long Jump - Kelly Proper - 6.60 (just 5cm away from B )

Others that may improve include
Jason Harvey in the 400m H (current PB of 50.65)
Ben Reynolds in the 110m H (current PB of 13.75 - standards are 13.52 (a), 13.60 (b)),
Zoe Browne in the pole vault (Current PB of 4.20)

Dan man

Dodge wrote: »

To add to Dan's list, here's some PBs for athletes that would get them the A or B standard

400m - Gillick - 44.77 (a)
800m - Chamney - 1.45.41 (a)
1,500m - Chamney - 3.36.83 (b*)
50k Walk - Jamie Costin - 3.50.51 (a)


100m - McSweeney - 11.40 (just 0.02 away from B standard)
400m - Cuddihy - 50.73 (a)
5,000m - Cullen - 15.18.34 (a)
3,000mSC - McGettigan - 9.28.2 (a)
400mH - Michelle Carey - 56.19 (b)
Long Jump - Kelly Proper - 6.60 (just 5cm away from B )

Others that may improve include
Jason Harvey in the 400m H (current PB of 50.65)
Ben Reynolds in the 110m H (current PB of 13.75 - standards are 13.52 (a), 13.60 (b)),
Zoe Browne in the pole vault (Current PB of 4.20)

Yes, P.B.s are important to look at to see if an athlete is capable of making the standards. For example, anyone looking at David Gillick's S.B. from 2011 might think he's a no-hoper, but of course, we know that he is well-capable of running the A-standard.
Dodge, feel free to edit my table whenever you wish to include any info. or athletes you think should be on the list. Just click on quote and you should be able to edit the table.
Just a note on Ben Reynolds, he doesn't compete for Ireland. He is from Northern Ireland and choses to compete for G.B. so no point putting him onto the list. Also, Michelle Carey is now concentrating on the 400m flat in order to bolster her chances of competing in the relay at the Olympics.

Dodge

Didn't realise that about Reynolds or Carey. Relay team makes sense too

Dan man

I've added a column on the table for P.B.s to be listed, i'll get to filling this up ASAP.

Dan man

Here is a table with swimmers along with the Olympic qualifying standards and the swimmer's best times in the qualifying period.
Note:
Swimmers in bold have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard and are elligible to take part in the Olympics.
The Olympic Invitation time is a minimum time needed for a swimmer to be invited to take part in the Games.
Irish swimmers must achieve the Olympic qualifying standard, but those swimmers who have achieved the qualifying standard in an event can also enter other events in which they have only achieved the Olympic invitation time.
In essence, the Olympic qualifying time and the Olympic invitation time act in a similar way to the A and the B qualifying standards process used in athletics.

MEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Barry Murphy|50m Freestyle|22.11secs|22.88secs|22.89secs|
Ryan Harrison|200m Freestyle|1:47.82mins|1:51.59mins|1:49.18mins|
Karl Burdis|100m Backstroke|54.40secs|56.30secs|56.50secs|
Barry Murphy|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:00.77mins (QT)|
Andrew Bree|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:02.54mins|
Andrew Bree|200m Breastroke|2:11.74mins|2:16.35mins|2:15.46mins|


WOMEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Fiona Doyle|50m Freestyle|25.27secs|26.15secs|26.04secs|
Fiona Doyle|100m Freestyle|54.57secs|56.48secs|56.75secs|
Melanie Nocher|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.49mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.61mins|
Clare Dawson|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:02.43mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.85mins|
Clare Dawson|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:16.16mins|
Grainne Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins|8:31.14mins (QT)|
Nuala Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins|8:50.15mins|
Aisling Cooney|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:01.76mins|
Melanie Nocher|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:02.39mins|
Melanie Nocher|200m Backstroke|2:10.84mins|2:15.42mins|2:12.02mins|
Sycerika McMahon|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.24mins|
Fiona Doyle|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.65mins|
Fiona Doyle|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:31.05mins|
Shani Stallard|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:31.20mins|
Grainne Murphy|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:15.82mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:17.09mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:44.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:49.87mins|

FitzjamesHorse

Great stuff here.
Ryan Harrison probably has a good chance.
Andrew Bree is handicapped by Barry Murphy having A standard in one of his events.
Of the Women.
Sycherika McMahon and Melanie Nocher look to have a decent chance,.
Grainne Murphy looks borderline.
But for any others to make it they would need to be swimming out of their skin in the early part of the season.
Relay?

AnotherLapMan

Dodge wrote: »

Didn't realise that about Reynolds or Carey. Relay team makes sense too

The question mark relating to Ben Reynolds, well he has changed to Athletics Ireland. He competed for UKA u20s so he is able to change over. He also hasn't competed for UK in over 2 years. So we welcome this fast fast hurdler to our Irish ranks. Good news all round

Dan man

AnotherLapMan wrote: »

The question mark relating to Ben Reynolds, well he has changed to Athletics Ireland. He competed for UKA u20s so he is able to change over. He also hasn't competed for UK in over 2 years. So we welcome this fast fast hurdler to our Irish ranks. Good news all round

Thanks for that, and it is good news for us I suppose. He looks like a promising talent.

AnotherLapMan

Dan man wrote: »

Thanks for that, and it is good news for us I suppose. He looks like a promising talent.

No problem, yes he has started off with a sharp 60m of 6.95 already. Will be good to have youth in the 110mh with promise as well. He is a determined chap and well capable of challenging for a spot in the Olympics.

Dan man

FitzjamesHorse wrote: »

Great stuff here.
Ryan Harrison probably has a good chance.
Andrew Bree is handicapped by Barry Murphy having A standard in one of his events.
Of the Women.
Sycherika McMahon and Melanie Nocher look to have a decent chance,.
Grainne Murphy looks borderline.
But for any others to make it they would need to be swimming out of their skin in the early part of the season.
Relay?

Grainne has already made the 800m time so she is London bound. Our women's 4x200m relay squad look a very decent bet for qualification, just missed out at the world championships where top 12 teams secured qualification. Fast time this year should see them qualify as one of the 16 teams on the starting blocks for the Olympics.

Dan man

AnotherLapMan wrote: »

No problem, yes he has started off with a sharp 60m of 6.95 already. Will be good to have youth in the 110mh with promise as well. He is a determined chap and well capable of challenging for a spot in the Olympics.

Thanks for the update, always good to have some input about our athletes. If he doesn't make London, there's always the Europeans in Helsinki in June.

Dan man

I wonder how much this issue has to do with Ben Reynolds switching to the Irish team. The article also goes to show his talent also.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/14066883.stm