As anyone who follows Irish athletics will know, funding for individual athletes is always an issue. Every year, the Irish Sports Council give out grants but only the very top international athletes like Rob Heffernan can hope to get the maximum amount. For younger up and coming athletes, their grants, if any, are a lot smaller and money is always an issue. They have the dilemma of trying to do the training required to reach an international standard and still be able to support themselves.
An interesting development on the Internet in the last year or two has been the use of sites like Kickstarter whereby people are asked to fund various business ideas and projects. The concept is called 'crowd sourcing'.
With those two facts in mind, some of Ireland's up and coming stars are now looking for funding for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Brother and sister Thomas and Jessie Barr from Waterford are top Irish hurdlers. Thomas put in some great performances in 2013 and came within five one-hundredths of a second of equaling the Irish 400m hurdles record. Jessie is the second fastest woman on the Irish all time list for the 400m hurdles.
This is their fundraising video...
This is the Barr's fundraising page.
Sarah Lavin from Limerick is just 19 years old and is already the 3rd fastest woman in the 100m hurdles on the Irish all time list.
This is her fundraising video...
This is Sarah's fundraising page.
Showing posts with label Jessie Barr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jessie Barr. Show all posts
Friday, October 04, 2013
Monday, February 04, 2013
Interview with Jessie and Thomas Barr...
Jessie, who is older of the two at 23 years old is currently the second fastest Irish woman over the 400m hurdles. As well as being part of the Irish 4 x 400m relay team that went to the London Olympics, she also made it through to the final in the European Championships in Helsinki last year.
400m Hurdles
1 54.31 Susan Smith 14.09.71 7 Zurich 12.08.98
2 55.93 Jessie Barr 24.07.89 4 Helsinki 28.06.12
3 56.19 Michelle Carey 20.02.81 3r2 Walnut 20.04.08
4 56.51 Mary Appleby 08.05.57 Sittard 16.08.80
5 56.73 Adrienne McIvor 09.02.70 Riga 22.06.00
6 57.31 Justine Kinney 06.04.88 1 Geneva 02.06.12
7 57.75 Brona Furlong 23.11.86 3 Chambérien 04.07.10
8 57.93 Barbara Johnson 05.12.62 1 Dublin 24.07.88
At just 20 years of age, Thomas Barr is already the second fastest Irish man over the 400m hurdles. He also competed at the European Championships in Helsinki last year.
400m Hurdles
1 49.73 Tom McGuirk 03.02.71 5 San Jose USA 01.06.96
2 50.06 Thomas Barr 24.07.92 1 Dublin IRL 07.08.11
3 50.65 Jason Harvey 09.08.91 2 Dublin IRL 07.08.11
4 50.76 Brian Liddy 16.06.77 7 Gothenburg SWE 30.07.99
5 51.11 Ciaran Dunphy 15.11.64 1 Dublin IRL 30.06.85
6 51.23 Antoine Burke 20.07.75 4 Leiria POR 18.06.05
7 51.24 Tim Crowe 10.12.91 2 Ostrava CZE 14.07.11
8 51.33 David Keoghan 09.10.78 2 Dublin IRL 25.07.99
At the recent launch of the New Balance / Athletics Ireland sponsorship deal, sports commentator Will Downing caught up with them and this is the interview...
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Jessie Barr wins 400m race in Amsterdam...Sat 21st July 2012
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Athletics Ireland replace Catriona Cuddihy with Joanne Mills on relay team...
Jessie Barr
Claire Bergin
Michelle Carey
Catriona Cuddihy
Marian Heffernan
Now on appeal, they have replaced Catriona Cuddihy with Joanne Mills.
Statement from Athletics Ireland...
Athletics Ireland Appeal Committee: 4×400m
Saturday, July 7th, 2012
The Athletics Ireland appeal committee met today to consider the appeal made by Joanna Mills in relation to her non-nomination for the women’s 4×400m relay team. The appeal committee made the decision to withdraw the nomination of Catriona Cuddihy to the OCI and nominate Joanna Mills in her place.
Update...Sun 8th July...Article from the Irish Independent HERE
Update from BBC Sport.......However there is now the possiblity of a counter appeal from Catriona Cuddihy, who has been replaced by Mills in the six-strong Irish squad. Mills competes for Ireland in next week's World Junior Championships.
Athletics Ireland president Ciaran O'Cathain confirmed on Saturday afternoon that Mills had replaced Cuddihy in the Irish squad following the appeals panel decision. "Catriona can now appeal the decision to the Olympic Council of Ireland and Athletics Ireland will make no further comment on this decision," said the Athletics Ireland official.
Mills was named in the Irish squad for the European Championships but Jessie Barr's inclusion led to Mills being left out of the six-woman Olympic squad announced on Tuesday. Mills spoke of her "disillusionment" after that decision and said it had affected her preparations for the World Juniors.
Barr was included after impressively reaching the 400 metres hurdles final at the Europeans in Helsinki.However, Mills' supporters argued that she should have been included ahead of Cuddihy who had been named in the Irish squad also with her sister Joanne plus Michelle Carey, Claire Bergin, Marian Heffernan and Barr.
Catriona Cuddihy's personal best of 54.59 set on 10 June at Bedford is slower than Mills' seasonal best of 54.41. Mills was fourth in the individual 400m final at last year's European Junior Championships and has a personal best of 53.89 set at that event in Estonia.
Her coach Ian Neely said that that an email explanation sent to the athlete concerning the decision simply did not stack up. The email referred to Mills' "lack of international relay and individual experience" which Neely insisted was totally incorrect. Neely pointed to Mills' placing at last year's European Juniors but also her participation in both the Irish European Youth relay team and the Northern Commonwealth Games team in 2010. "The email also referred to selecting athletes who have the potential to improve," added Neely. "Joanna is 19 while the six named women are in their mid-to-late twenties. "If a 19-year-old doesn't fall into the "potential to improve" criteria then who does? "Neely's frustration was also increased by the fact that Mills was told that she would have to travel to Helsinki for the Europeans if she wanted to remain in contention for an Olympic place - rather than being allowed to remain at home to train for the World Juniors. Mills then spent nearly a week in Helsinki taking part in relay practice but was not selected for the semi-final when the Irish quartet were disqualified.
Her coach Ian Neely said that that an email explanation sent to the athlete concerning the decision simply did not stack up. The email referred to Mills' "lack of international relay and individual experience" which Neely insisted was totally incorrect. Neely pointed to Mills' placing at last year's European Juniors but also her participation in both the Irish European Youth relay team and the Northern Commonwealth Games team in 2010. "The email also referred to selecting athletes who have the potential to improve," added Neely. "Joanna is 19 while the six named women are in their mid-to-late twenties. "If a 19-year-old doesn't fall into the "potential to improve" criteria then who does? "Neely's frustration was also increased by the fact that Mills was told that she would have to travel to Helsinki for the Europeans if she wanted to remain in contention for an Olympic place - rather than being allowed to remain at home to train for the World Juniors. Mills then spent nearly a week in Helsinki taking part in relay practice but was not selected for the semi-final when the Irish quartet were disqualified.
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