Irish expect too much of their Olympic athletes
Treacy said he was surprised at some of the criticism many of Ireland’s athletes received during the past fortnight, as it was going to take time for the long-term strategy for Irish sporting success to reap results.
“We are obviously very pleased with what Cian achieved, particularly as we highlighted equestrian as one of our elite sports,” Treacy said.
“It was a good performance from all of our riders out there.”
While he did accept that there were some disappointing performances, Treacy said the country needed a dose of realism when assessing its Olympic prospects.
“We had some good performances,” he said.
“We had two rowing boats in the top 10, Derek Brunett was two shots away from making it to the final.
“We had a great performance from Ciaran Power in cycling, coming in 13th, and Aliastar Cragg ran very well in the 5,000m. But, we need to be more realistic about what Ireland can achieve at the Games.”
An idea mooted over the weekend to eradicate the poor performances was that athletes would need to reach the A standard five times before being selected for the Olympic team. It wasn’t an idea that Treacy warmed to.
“The selection of the team is up to the OCI but I wouldn’t be in favour of an athlete having to reach the A standard five times before being selected. “We will have to examine all the scenarios in the coming weeks.”
While Avril Doyle, head of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland, called for a radical rethink before
Beijing, Treacy said it was time sport was looked at within the context of society as a whole.
“We have to look at ways of getting more children involved in sport and keeping them involved and that may start at primary school.”
Meanwhile, Treacy refused to be drawn into the current debate over Pat Hickey’s position as head of the Olympic Council of Ireland. Former Sports Minister Jim McDaid called for Hickey’s resignation at the weekend.
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