I’m being ignored, insists Chesser

One of the country’s top middle-distance runners, Ennis athlete Rory Chesser may be on the start-list for next week’s European championships in Helsinki, but claims Athletics Ireland have stopped him competing after deciding not to name him on the Irish team.

The 25-year-old multiple national champion hoped to compete in the 1,500m and satisfied all criteria set out by Athletics Ireland and the European Championships organisers to warrant selection. But he’s been “ignored.”

Chesser is based in the UK, but is self-funded, having been dropped for funding last year. He said yesterday he had three major issues with the governing body here: “I’m entered on the European Championships website; they’ve accepted my entry and the only thing my athletics association is doing right now is stopping me from competing in a major championships where I know I could do very well.