China surprise as Curley thrilled by selection call

PAULINE CURLEY was in an amusement park in Torremolinos with her husband, Adrian, and son, Emmett — just 24 hours into their Spanish holiday — when she got news of her Olympic selection.

“First I got a text and I thought it must be some sort of joke,” she said. “Then I got the call from Patsy (McGonagle) and I was so shocked I could hardly speak.”

She had achieved the B standard in sensational fashion in the Rotterdam Marathon last April when she ran 2:39.01 and returned to Tullamore with a lot of mixed feelings.