Treacy goes it alone to Games

JOHN TREACY has made his own arrangements to attend the Olympics in Beijing as the Irish Sports Council (ISC) moved to stave off any confrontation with the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) on the eve of the Games.

The fact that the 1984 Olympic silver medallist, now ISC chief executive, was not offered accreditation for this year’s Games is regarded by some as an indication of the uneasy relationship that exists between Treacy and OCI President Pat Hickey.

That’s despite the fact that Hickey publicly thanked the ISC for their role in preparing and funding the athletes throughout the Olympic cycle — insisting they had a good working relationship — when he welcomed John Treacy and other representatives of the ISC to the Olympic team launch in Dublin a couple of weeks ago.