Women: Lizzie Lee, Fionnuala McCormack, Breege Connolly.
1st Reserve: Gladys Ganiel (North Belfast AC)
2nd Reserve: Barbara Sanchez (Clonliffe Harriers AC)
Men: Kevin Seaward, Mick Clohisey, Paul Pollock (Sergiu Ciobanu loses out).
1st Reserve: Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Harriers AC)
2nd Reserve: Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham WSAF)
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| Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC..now heading to the Olympics in Rio |
Team have also been selected for the European Championships Half Marathon which will take place in Amsterdam in July. Both Mark Hanrahan and Claire McCarthy from Cork have both been picked.
MEN'S HALF MARATHON
Sergiu Ciobanu Clonliffe Harriers AC
Mick Clohisey Raheny Shamrocks AC
Mark Hanrahan Leevale AC
Gary Murray Clonliffe Harriers AC
Paul Pollock Annadale Striders AC
Kevin Seaward St Malachy's AC
WOMEN'S HALF MARATHON
Breege Connolly North Belfast AC
Gladys Ganiel North Belfast AC
Maria McCambridge Dundrum South Dublin AC
Claire McCarthy Leevale AC
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| Claire McCarthy & Mark Hanrahan...selected for the European Championships |
Addendum...
Irish Times article on the selection
Coach Jerry Kiernan lashes out at selection decision
25 comments:
feel sorry for Sergiu but I think taking Pollock is the correct decision based on his half marathon performance in the Worlds this year
Best of luck to the women,they were chosen fairly by quickest marathon times.The mens selection stinks of corruption and politics where the 3rd fastest marathon man has lost out despite fastest time allowing get for course difference written in selection criteria.(same marathon Berlin in priority 1 timeframe).This is disgusting politics and completely unjust.
Very best of luck to all 6 -- stay healthy lads. I sure hope Sergiu keeps training and be ready in case he is needed.
Fair decesion would have been three fasest times. The first priority was qualifing time in autumn, last priorty was spring this year. Usual politics.
Should have been 3 fastest marathon times. To suggest that someone gets selected for a marathon based on half marathon time makes no sense. How many local Irish races does Paul Pollock go to?
A half is nothing like a full marathon.Also Pollock failed to try get a better time in London apparently due to metatarsal stress fracture AND we haven't seen him run since.A consistent runner who has proven fitness with a faster MARATHON time has been unjustly treated.
Pollock is a regular in the local Irish races in the north of the Island, easy to see that some here have no understanding or idea where the top end athletes compete.
Cross Country is also nothing like a marathon, but yet John Tracey managed to convert.......the simple facts as i see it from the selectors is as follows:
Pollock has unreal HM times and performed at the World Half in Cardiff this year....if he stays injury free he will perform. All 4 athletes got the qualifying time.....Pollock was 4th on the list, but his performances since then i think gives him the nod.
Also you are wrong on the above info Pollock has ran since London...........he is also consistent runner.....he must have proven his fitness or he wouldn't have been even considered for selection............and slower by 12secs
have a look at links below, the selectors must have taken the info below into account:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/athletics/irelands-paul-pollock-finishes-a-creditable-14th-in-world-half-marathon-championships-34574776.html
http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/36075311
In response to one of the comments above,I would agree if Pollock was going to run a half marathon!If they were running a HALF of course he should go but it is a full they are selected for.Also to clarify some points,Pollock has not raced since the world half.He has also not stayed injury free stating a metatarsal stress fracture as cause for not contesting London.If this is the case and not an excuse not to contest marathon,it would require minimum 4-6 weeks rest with very graduated slow return to running miles.Also he was 6 places I think behind Sergiu Ciobanu I think in Berlin marathon and at least 24 seconds.He has mainly raced in the UK this year but I don't think that's the point,failure to follow MARATHON selection criteria is!
Pollock has proven himself at major championships in the past that must be taken into account also
Top 3 men should have be selected, politics again!!
They are afraid of losing Pollock to GB if he wasn't selected.
:(
Well done to the 3 cork Athletes selected.
Talk about utter bull Pollock is Irish he wouldn't declare for GB. Some on here are armchair athletic supporters they haven't a clue about the strutures in athletics or the fact that current form is also taken into account when selecting teams. ....it's a good thing some on here aren't managing the Kilkenny hurling team or they wouldn't pick players on current form but on what they did 2 or 3 years ago....this is about sending the best team to compete for Ireland and pollock for me is the correct call. Others have there view
Paul Pollock has ability to run fastest time by an Irishman in a Olympic marathon, that's why he is going. We all wish him well. Be sure to finish it Paul.
Due to the very fact there is a "selection" shows the criteria is never 3 fastest would go so Sergiu should have always known there was a doubt.
In saying this though I certainly don't think the right selection was made. The fact Sergiu and Paul Pollock raced eachother over a marathon and Sergiu did what he had to do and beat Paul Pollock shows his racing ability (not tt ability). The olympic marathon is a complete race and times have gone out the window. Picking an athlete who can dig in and focus on beating another athlete is what you need to send.
Few other factors here
- Berlin is in September - to give himself the best chance Sergiu should have looked at a Spring marathon, selectors forget very fast!!
- If there is any remote doubt Paul Pollock is anyway injured at the moment he shouldn't go. The build up to a marathon is grueling and not one something to start injured.
- Suspect there is nationality politics at play. Paul Pollock being from the North and Sergiu originally Moldavian.
-With the upturn in the amount of Irish athletes qualifying this time around should AI now look at a selection race to make it fairer next time? i.e. all athletes who want to be considered all need to run London first 3 past the post go to the Olympics
the selection committee if thats what they are called, did not have a difficult decision to make they set out their criteria and had they followed it the decision would have been straight forward. the problem arose when the committee decided to amend the criteria to suit and favour the person they felt should be in the top 3 but who failed to make that grade. regardless of history or half marathon times Mr Pollock failed to gain the fast enough qualifying time. Had Athletics Ireland said that they would have one pick from the out set no one could argue BUT THEY DID NOT. They moved the goal posts for a preferred runner and it doesnt matter if he is the world record holder with a two world championship medals he didnt make the grade for selection not just in my book but in the AI book before the re wrote it. god help you all out there with kids or young athletes in your clubs hoping they will qualify for major championships if this is what they are up against. how can they ever trust these people. This is a man lifes work they are messing aroung with and it totally heart breaking to have your dream stolen not won fair and square.
Incorrect decision. I hope his appeal is successful
Don't think AAI need to worry about losing Pollock to GB as he wouldn't come close to getting picked for their team. These are the three qualifiers for GB Callum Hawkins 2.12 in Frankfurt followed it up with a 2.10 time in London, His brother Derek Hawkins ran 2.12 in London, Tsegai Tewelde ran 2.12 in London times way ahead of any of the Irish athletes
i wonder if pollack had run the correct marathon qualifying time and ciobanu had run a decent half marathon would Pollock have been deprived of a place? I don't think so, a very poor decision. Pollock should step aside. Sergiu has been through a lot to get where he is and then get the Olympic committee do this to him. Disgrace.
Simple facts are that no where does it state that the 3 fastest times are in straight away. A qualifying time was given I think 7 men got under the time with 3 places up for grabs. There is a 5 person selection panel. If it was merely the 3 fastest times then there would be no need for selection panel. They have gone with pollock because of his resent good form and also the fact that he has more potential to improve in Rio due to this current form. The selectors must send the best team and emotions must be parked outside the door when doing this. Now there may still be a sting in the tale as I'm sure if Pollock doesn't produce in the European half coming up or breaks down injuried then Rio is Goosed for him. I think this is what the selection panel are up to.
This is turning into an anti Pollack campaign which is sad but not surprising in this country. He is the form athlete at the moment and should go. It is tough on Sergio no doubt,but he has a chance in europeans to beat Pollack if that happens who knows what the selectors will do next? We should get behind the Irish team no matter who it is.
My initial reaction in this debate, and leading up to selection was that Paul Pollock should be selected. He wasn’t that far behind Sergiu Ciobanu at the Berlin marathon and I was certain that he would run another marathon in the months after Berlin and secure a faster time. In terms of the shorter races - 10k, half marathon and cross country he was quite obviously the superior runner and it was only a matter of time before he ran the a faster marathon time. Following his excellent performance at the World marathon championships in 2013 I assumed that Paul had the faster marathon PB. The times that Sergiu and Paul set at the Berlin marathon last year were both PBs so Sergiu has the faster PB. I had a read of the AAI marathon qualification criteria (https://athleticsireland.app.box.com/v/16-ogpolicy). It is quite vague. It says that it gives priority to qualifying times set in 2015 as it gives the athletes more time to recover and train for Rio. The next priority is marathons run in early 2016 and the last priority is for marathons run after April 2016. Mick Clohisey is the second fastest qualifier. He set his qualifying time in the second priority window and only beat Sergiu’s time by a few seconds. Going by the AAI qualifying criteria, should Sergiu be picked ahead of Mick as he was faster than Mick in Berlin in the most favourable time to run a qualifying time according to the AAI? Paul was due to run the London marathon. If he posted a faster time than Sergiu in this marathon, how much faster would he have had to run, seeing as a marathon run in April was seen as the least favourable time to run a qualifying time? Nowhere in the qualifying criteria does it mention that times in shorter races were a criteria only that athletes need to prove fitness in the months prior to Rio. Beating Sergiu by 4 minutes in a half marathon is massive but it only proves he is a better half marathon runner with the potential of being a better marathon runner. I have ran many the half marathon and marathon and at no stage in a half marathon have I “hit the wall”, suffered from severe cramps and had to end up walking. In the second half of a marathon and especially in the last few miles, anything can happen to the body no matter how well you run the preceeding miles. Paul Pollock had two attempts at marathon qualification – in Berlin he ran the qualifying standard while recovering from injury and had to pull out of the London marathon due to injury. Athletes at an elite level and not so elite level are always going to get injured so injury cannot be used as an excuse. The biographies of every elite athlete that I have read had big sections dedicated to injury and rehabilitation. Ultimately, the fault lies with the AAI. At the time I thought Sergiu was mad not to run another marathon as times were so close but I get the impression that he believed he had done enough to qualify and was willing to take his chances that another runner would not run faster, especially as he had set his time in the ideal qualifying window last September. Out of all the athletes, the one I feel most sorry for is Maria McCambridge. Over the past number of years, after Fionnuala Britton, she has been the stand out Irish female distance runner. Her course record times in the Ballycotton 10 are nothing short of phenomenal – faster than the likes of Sonia O’Sullivan. However, she has to abide by the same criteria as everyone else and unfortunately failed to run the required marathon qualifying time.
Selection criteria was not upheld.This talk of supposed potential is irrelevant.He didn't secure a faster marathon time in selection time frame and pulled out of London.These are the facts.
Have seen a statement from head performance director Kevin Ankrom in March saying that if more than 3 athletes got marathon standard then fastest times would be considered first and that other factors considered would be course and/or time of year.This is on athletics Ireland page,you cannot argue that this wasn't upheld.In relation to a spring marathon,I think it is well known that Ciobanu had entry for Prague marathon should another athlete run a faster marathon time than him.But what good would it do him,Pollock didn't run a faster time in spring and was still picked ahead.I don't think this is turning into anti-Pollock show,it is simply the fact that fairness was not upheld.Disgraceful.
This is not anti-Pollock.He is anot athlete who has run a fantastic HALF!But how can you argue he is on form having pulled out of London with metatarsal stress fracture and not racing since.If he was on truly in form he would have registered a quicker marathon time.
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