OCI would consider letting Lombard take part in Beijing

IF Cathal Lombard qualifies for the Olympic Games in Beijing then the Olympic Council of Ireland will give consideration his participation.

He forfeited his Olympic dream when he tested positive for EPO on the eve of the Athens Games in 2004.

Since then he has served his two-year mandatory ban and returned to frontline athletics on Saturday when he demolished a raging hot field to win the national senior cross-country title in Belfast.

Alistair Cragg, who has achieved the Olympic A standard over 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m, was among his victims.

But the 32-year-old Cork solicitor said he would now have less time to devote to athletics and did not make himself available for selection for the world cross-country championships at the end of the month.

And while he has more or less dismissed another bid at Olympic qualification, a spokesman for the OCI said yesterday they would certainly entertain his selection should he achieve a qualifying standard.

“He would have to achieve an A standard first of all and then it would be up to Athletics Ireland to nominate him,” Jack McGouran, spokesman for the OCI, said.

“Once an athlete is qualified and nominated by the national federation then it is up to the OCI to make the decision as to whether or not that particular athlete should go to the Olympic Games.

“As regards Cathal Lombard, he has not been on radar for athletes — by that I mean he has not been on the long list of probable and possible athletes.

“That is a list we need to have so that we can organise flights to China and make other necessary arrangements and we update it on a regular basis.

“Then, at the end of the day, the Executive of the OCI have the final call on who goes to the Olympics and the athletes’ contract is issued.

“But athletes have to satisfy the OCI that they are fit to perform and that they are not impeded by injury or anything else.

“The issue of an athlete having served a ban for a doping offence is something that has not arisen in the past and we are not in a similar situation to the British Olympic Association (BOA) in so far as they can ban an athlete who has served suspension for a doping offence from competing in the Olympic Games.

“Should such an athlete qualify in our jurisdiction we will discuss the situation with Athletics Ireland and the Irish Sports Council and, if necessary, take legal advice on the matter before we make a decision.”