O’Rourke, Gillick and Heffernan medal hopes, says Doole

LEADING athletics coach Br John Dooley has picked out Derval O’Rourke, David Gillick and Robert Heffernan as Ireland’s best Olympic medal hopes for the games in London next year.

Dooley, who yesterday received the Cork City Sports Athletics Award, paid tribute to the attitude of the trio.

He said: “It’s very difficult when it comes to the Olympics, particularly when it comes to the athletics, because the Africans just dominate the distance events. Derval O’Rourke, though, has been a wonderful ambassador for us and has that rare ability to produce her best on the big days. She loves those big days and she’s so relaxed before the major competitions — until she gets down to the start line. Then she’s transformed.

“Very few athletes have that ability — it’s about staying in control, saying to yourself, ‘I’m talented, I have the work done, this is my stage — let me go’. In that sense she’d be one of our medal hopes.”

Dooley said Gillick was capable of a “major breakthrough” if he could handle the pressures of training abroad.

“David Gillick has gambled, but at least he’s gambled two years before the Olympics. He’s changed coach and changed location — he’s gone to Florida — and that worked very well for (Paralympian) Jason Smyth.

“If David can adjust to all the changes, and being so far away from home, then he could make a major breakthrough for the Olympics. One difficulty, though, is when you’re training at your maximum, then injury often isn’t very far away, or illness. Then, when you’re that far away from home and you get an illness or injury, it compounds the problem.”

Race Walker Heffernan is another podium contender said Dooley.

“What he did in Barcelona at the European Championships was truly phenomenal — and I’m happy to boast he’s one of mine, as Robbie did his post-leaving certificate course with us up in the North Mon, so I count him as one of our Olympic athletes.”

Dooley added that Ireland, and Cork in particular, should be pushed as a training venue for foreign teams targeting the London Olympics. “I think it needs to be pursued. Obviously it’s getting too close to the Olympics now, and a lot of countries have made their decisions as to where they’ll go. Cork has so much to offer, though, and many international athletes and their team managers would have had many happy experiences of the Cork City Sports.

“(The Olympics) is a golden opportunity and we need to grasp it. If we could get a number of teams to base themselves here, athletics teams, it’d be a wonderful boost for the sport in Ireland.”

Dooley was delighted to be presented with yesterday’s award: “When I got the call I was just speechless — for a short time. I had 20 very happy and successful years in Cork, with the North Monastery and Leevale AC. The support we got, the enthusiasm in Cork for sport, it was just a combination of a lot of things that helped us get a lot of success.”