Irish Olympic team likely to be our smallest

IRELAND could have its smallest team in years at next year’s Olympic Games in Athens as the race for qualification gathers momentum.

The sport of athletics is set to suffer from the decision of the Olympic Council of Ireland to accept only A standards and to set June 30 as the cut-off point for achieving those standards.

“As it stands we have only eight athletes qualified,” Liam Hennessy, the international secretary of the Athletics Association of Ireland, pointed out. “And between now and June 30 there are very few opportunities for athletes to achieve standards.”