Cork athlete Ciarán Ó'Lionáird joins Oregon Track Club Elite

Ciarán Ó'Lionáird, who finished tenth at last summer's world championships at 1500m, has decided to switch training groups in advance of this summer's Olympic Games. Previously, Ciaran had trained with another Nike-sponsored group, the Oregon Distance Project under coaches Alberto Salazar and Steve Magness.

In an interview, he said..."At a personal level I feel like I needed a change. I think moving down to Eugene will be a good change for me on both a personal and a training level." Commenting on his time at the Oregon Distance Project, he said that Salazar was "an unbelievable coach" and that he had "learned a ton and became a better athlete".

With reference to new coach Mark Rowland and the OTC, he said that their expertise in the middle distances would benefit him. "I got to sit down with him before I made a decision," O'Lionaird recounted.  "We kind of immediately hit it off.  He's the kind of guy who is an extremely dedicated coach, and a really down to earth guy.  He's a guy I can easily relate to.  I'm really excited to work with him and I think training with the team will be great."

O'Lionaird and Rowland are now battling against the clock in their Olympic preparations.  O'Lionaird has been managing an inflamed left Achilles tendon, so he is behind in his training schedule.