Chamney: change of mindset needed
Chamney, who finished fifth in his 800m heat (1:47.56) and failed to qualify for the semi-finals, spoke of a lack of ‘cohesiveness’ and poor co-operation amongst national competitors and officials.
Ireland’s track and field hopes at these Olympics have been all but abject failures, save for Paul Hession’s fifth in the 200m semi-finals and Alastair Cragg’s qualification for Saturday’s 5000m final.
But Chamney believes that, instead of pointing fingers of blame, athletes, coaches and administrators need to look in the mirror and rediscover how everyone can work together to secure the betterment of the sport.
Said the 24-year-old: “AAI are trying. When I first started in the sport there was significantly less support. But I would love to train in Ireland. I hate having to train abroad. But first of all there is no one to train with, no one wants to co-operate with anyone else. There is no cohesiveness.
“All the sprinters had to move abroad — Mary Cullen and Roisin McGettigan are based in the States and I have been based there too.”
And he believes much of the problems which need to be overcome are not issues of constructing bricks and mortar, but breaking down psychological barriers.
“I would love there to be a better set up, but it is going to take a mind change rather than a change of the facilities and stuff. I don’t think the top guys, and I’m guilty of it, want to train together. I have my rivals in Ireland, but I don’t think I would ever want to train with them. That is a problem with me, but I’m open to suggestions.
“It is up to AAI how to fix the problem. I am definitely open to any suggestions that they might have. But I can’t see a change without a mind change of coaches, of athletes, of everybody coming together.”
Chamney also bemoaned the country’s failure to continue its wonderful production line of middle distance runners. He described the discipline as having ‘gone downhill in Ireland’.
“There used to be loads in the 1500m, the 800m, the 5000m, the 10,000m and the marathon and now it is just me and Alistair Cragg. And I would love it to be different.
“I would love to see us with three guys in the 800m, three in the 1500m and three in the 5000m. The talent is there but, for whatever reason, it is not coming through.”
Though thousands of miles from home, word has reached Beijing that Irish athletics has become the dartboard to aim at for every critic near a microphone or a television camera.
Chamney is at a loss to explain why things have gone so badly for Irish men and women in the Bird’s Nest Stadium and insisted the warm weather training camp was hugely successful
“Some of the more high profile members might not have run as well as they might have hoped, but it was not for the lack of trying. I thought our camp went well out in Mastue. There was a really good buzz out there. I know that some of the other members of the team are disappointed with how they ran, but I can’t really worry about that myself. I can just focus on how I run and how I perform. For me I think I did okay, I think I did better than some people were expecting – or might have been hoping. In terms of the other guys, I don’t know why they did not run well. There have been a lot of injury problems with Eileen and Derval and Joanne — she was lucky to make the start line — and those are three of our best athletes.
“It is the Olympics and you need to be at 100%.”
The Notre Dame Graduate gained late qualification for the Olympics at the National Track and Field Championships, nudging out David Campbell for the seat to Beijing.
Despite failing to match his personal best of 1:46.46, which wouldn’t have secured progression to the semis, Chamney was satisfied with his performance.
“I justified my selection. It was a good experience. It gives me motivation. If I had not made this team I would have had to question whether or not I would continue running at international level. But I am still only developing. In the end I just ran out of steam. I was not going to hang on with the Olympic champion, Wilfred Bungei.
“It was a tall order to expect me to come out of the heat, but I could not have run any quicker.”
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