Madrid invite boost for Ryan’s Olympic hopes

GARY RYAN’S Olympic qualification hopes were boosted yesterday when he was granted a place in the 200m in Saturday’s Meeting de Madrid 2004 - an IAAF Super Grand Prix - and then in Monday’s meet in Thessalonika.

It was just the break Ryan needed following the OCI’s decision to extend the qualification deadline to July 20 because opportunities are limited.

World 100m champion, Kim Collins, will be among the sprinters in action in Madrid. The 28 year old from Saint Kitts & Nevis is having relatively below-par season with a best time of 10.21 secs.

Sonia O’Sullivan is also due to compete where she is expected to run one of two 3,000m races between now and the Olympic Games. The other will be at the Weltklasse in Zurich on August 6.

Derval O’Rourke will do the 100m hurdles in Bangor tomorrow night when her training partner, Ciara Sheehy, will compete in the sprints before both jet off to Loughborough on Saturday.

Paul Hession is another member of Jim Kilty’s group and, following his big run off a slow start behind Gary Ryan at the BUPA Cork City Sports, he is expecting even more from this weekend and particularly the Thessalonkia meet.

Mandy Crowe will compete in the heats of the 200m at the world junior championships in Grossetto today.

Danny Darcy missed out by just one place on qualification for the final of the men’s 1,500m when finishing fifth in his semi-final in 3:47.75 but Colin Costello, a double medallist at the European Youth Olympics, was eighth in his semi-final in 3:49.42.