An Olympic Friday - where nine irish athletes were in action

by Perri Williams

It was not meant to be. Ireland has high hopes for its mixed relay. A place in the final at least. While it may not have worked out as planned, there is no doubt that the quartet did the best they could on the day. That is all anyone could ask for. The four Olympian's can be proud to get this far and represent Ireland as Olympians.

Reality began to unfold as the American team made a huge assault at the World record and managed to smash it with a time of 3:07.41. This was just the first heat. Ireland had the fastest time this season and were ranked first coming into the games. With a best time of 3.09 and Adeleke no longer running, it was always going to be a case of having to find three more seconds to reach that time. Divide it, multiply it, no matter what way you do the maths, the cumulative score of our quartet had been reduced. The team of Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley finished fifth in their heats, clocking 3:12.67. There you have the three seconds we were missing. Ireland needed a low 3.11 to even get through as a fastest looser. Sonia O’Sullivan said it two years ago, that Ireland does not have that depth required and she is still right. We cannot afford to loose any squad member just yet. The USA can probably substitute someone into tomorrow’s final should any member not be recovered enough after their record attempt. We do not have that luxury. We need to have our men running 44 seconds and our ladies at least 50 seconds and that includes the subs. In saying that, there is no doubt that the team ran their best, gave it their all. They did what they could on the day. There was nothing more they could do.

Sharlene Mawdsley as good as she is on the anchor leg, just had too much of a deficit to make up. Added to that the gap between herself and the fourth place was considerable and hard to judge. “It was difficult because I’ve not been in that position this year with such a big gap, so it felt a bit like a solo run,” said Mawdsley. The team was obviously disappointed as they had geared their hopes towards a final placing, something they had achieved in the last Olympics. For Thomas Barr, this is his final Olympics or even his final race. “it’s definitely my last Olympics, could be my last race, I’m not sure yet”, the Waterford man said after the race.

There is of course a silver lining in all of this. For Mawdsley and Becker, they now have an extra day to recover before their individual 400m races commence. Something Mawdsley might relish as previous championships have seen her sacrifice her individual race efforts for the relay endeavours. And of course they are now all Olympians. A tag Mawdsley did not have up to this point.

Our 1500m athletes were in action earlier this morning, running at the same time that Ireland’s Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan crossed the line for another gold medal in the rowing. All three athletes failed to advance to the semi-finals. However, they do have one more chance (at the expense of an extra race) in tomorrow repechage. McCann came with a late surge of speed after he allowed himself to get a little hemmed in. Of the three he may possibly stand the best chance of getting out of the repechage. His 3:35.73 and eight place fell only marginally short of qualification. This is McCann’s first Olympics although he has already competed in various majors at senior level.

It was Doyle’s first Olympics too and his first major at senior level. Of the three, he lacks the most international experience but strategically is an excellent championship racer, at least on domestic soil. He finished 9^th in 3:37.82 easing off towards the end to save his legs for tomorrows race.

Andrew Coscoran, competing in his second Olympics, by his own admission has had a few disruptions to his training. His 15^th place and time of 3:42.07 does not reflect the excellent races he had earlier this season. Championship racing is very different to some of the paced races that many of the athletes have been doing all season. “I just didn’t have it today” he said with disappointment.

It was a great day for the McCann household as Jodie followed her brother Luke into the stadium on the same day. McCann finished 20^th in her 5,000m heat in a time of 15:55.08. While it may be outside of her personal best, one cannot expect to run personal bests at major races. McCann would have spent much of her time chasing qualification. Athletes in this position are often left with having expended too much of their energy in their qualification quest, thereby affecting their ultimate race. She has after all been racing since January and has improved her 5000m time by over a minute. Paris will serve as an enormous experience for McCann. It is a great honour for her to become an Olympian and build upon her experience from here.

The final Irish athlete in action this evening was Eric Favours. US born Eric finished 27^th overall in the qualification rounds (13^th in Group A). His best throw came in his first round – 19.02m, which was not good enough to either meet the automatic qualification distance of the top twelve. A pull in his pec’s recently did not help either. Like so many of the other Irish athletes competing today, this too was Eric’s first Olympics.

Results Summary:

• 1500m, Luke McCann 8th in heat in 3:35.73, advances to the repechage
• 1500m, Cathal Doyle, 9th in heat in 3:37.82, advances to the repechage
• 1500m, Andrew Coscoran 15th in heat in 3:42.07, advances to the repechage
• 5000m, Jodie McCann 20^th in heat in 15:55.08
• Mixed 4 x 400m Relay, 5^th in semi-final and tenth overall in 3:12.67.
• Shot Put qualification rounds Eric Favors 27^th with a throw of 19.02m