Training hitch for Olympic athletes

HUGE numbers of foreign Olympic athletes who had intended using the vast sports facilities at the University of Limerick (UL) to prepare for London 2012 will be forced to go elsewhere.

This is owing to the closure of the Aer Lingus Heathrow/Shannon service, it was claimed yesterday.

UL and the regional conferencing organisation, Meet Limerick/Shannon Conference and Sports Bureau, have marketed the campus to national team managers in the southern hemisphere, Africa and Asia, as a preparatory springboard to help athletes train in London-type conditions.