Marathon on hold as Sweeney’s sights on Slovenia

JOE SWEENEY may have other things on his mind but his coach, Jerry Kiernan, won’t be surprised if he adds his name to the list of qualifiers for next year’s Olympics.

On Sunday the imposing 6’4” Dubliner retained his title at the Woodies DIY national inter-counties championships in Sligo and he now has his sights set firmly on a top 10 placing at next month’s European cross-country championships.

“He was 21st last year — only 38 seconds behind the winner and I know from his training workouts that he is at least 20 seconds better than he was 12 months ago,” said his coach.