Foley says Olympic review criticism will prompt change

Athletics Ireland chief executive, John Foley, has welcomed the comments and recommendations made in the 2012 Olympic review.

The report released yesterday looked in-depth at Ireland’s performance in athletics in London and came down hard on elements of their preparation and achievements. However Foley said that such constructive criticism was exactly what they were looking for in order to improve for the 2016 Games and beyond.

“The review of athletics was more comprehensive than most, given the number of athletes and people in our sports that were interviewed. But we actually sought that, we looked for that so we could learn from it, and a lot of the changes made in the recommendations have already been introduced since the Games. We completely accept the thrust of the report and it is a pivotal moment for Athletics Ireland as we move into a new era. We’ve bought into the idea of a high performance future based on a systems approach and we’ve left the amateur era behind us now.”