Ryan wins over fans but Athens dream is fading fast
His whole season came down to two performances at The Mardyke.
A break in the weather saw him equal the national record for 100m with a 10.35 victory and then a downpour that left the track sluggish saw him fail in his 200m qualifying bid despite winning in 20.78 seconds from the fast-finishing fellow Irishman, Paul Hession.
“That’s the type of season it has been,” he said. “I am fitter and stronger and running better than ever but luck has not been on my side.
“My training has gone better than ever but a dislocated rib and a very bad cold wrote off the whole month of June and when I went to the States I ran some of the best races of my life but the conditions were just appalling.”
The deadline may have passed at midnight on Saturday but he will remain relentless in his pursuit of the 20.59 Olympic A standard between now and the Athens Games.
“I tried too hard out there and conditions were just not right. It got very cold,” he said after the 200m. “I know it is there.”
“Really it’s only in the last week that I have been getting back on track. Training has been fantastic this year. I thought from that race in the States when I ran 20.90 into a headwind I could easily run the time. It is just that I have had no luck.
“I will still chase that time. It is all about pride. I know I can do it. I have worked really hard for it and at this stage I want to start delivering on the things that I should have done in the past.
“I spent a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of effort trying to do things right and I will still prepare with Athens on my mind. Hopefully they will see that athletes are not going to Athens to fool around. This is their life. This is what they live and breathe and they don’t go to a competition like that for a trip or for fun.
“OK, some of them will perform and some won’t but the point is the standards are ridiculously hard now and if somebody achieves it we should be rewarding them and encouraging them because what is the point in the sport then: you may shoot it dead and let the Tim Montgomerys of the world take over. It is not all about gold medals.”
James Nolan, a spectacular winner at the BUPA Cork City Sports in past years, finished seventh in the men’s 800m but was happy with his 1:50.00 and the fact that his troublesome hamstring held up to the pressure.
“I had been contemplating not running after a training session during the week but I felt I needed the race - I wanted to get a 1:50 under my belt before the 1,500m in Lausanne on Tuesday night and that’s how it worked out,” he said.
While taking time out to run sub-four minute miles in Tullamore and Dublin, all his efforts have been geared towards preparing for the Olympic Games and tomorrow night’s performance in a world class field in Lausanne will tell him exactly where he is at in those preparations.
“The race today was too slow early on and did not suit me at all and then, when I tried to make a move with 200m to go the wind was blowing very strong,” he said.
Rob Daly ran in Namour in Belgium on Friday night - 46.46 - and flew home to compete in Cork where he ran 47.29 in the 400m to finish two places ahead of his Ireland team mate, David McCarthy. Casey Vincent (Australia) won in 46.67 from Jimosola Laursen (Sweden), 46.94.
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