Women’s relay squad on way to London

Ireland’s 4x400m relay women were officially confirmed as London 2012 Olympians by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) yesterday.

Sixteen teams were ratified after Monday’s closing date with the Irish ranked 13th, ahead of Brazil and behind Italy. The USA, Russia and Jamaica took the first three spots with host Great Britain ranked fourth.

Rankings for the relay events are achieved by an aggregate of the two fastest teams in the qualifying period between January 1, 2011 and July 2, 2012, although national teams must compete in at least three races during that timeframe.