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The Association of Athletics Ireland are delighted to announce
the launch of their Athens Enhancement Plan (AEP) along with
the AEP Panel for this Summers Olympic Games. The AEP programme
was launched by the Irish Sports Council after the Sydney
review in order to support the preparations of the nations
top competitors for the Olympic Games and to ensure that they
have every support necessary to compete at their best at the
Games. At the
recent ISC announcement of the International carding scheme
and the AEP allocations, Athletics Ireland received ?250,000
to run the programme. This allotment will go to running the
AEP programme as outlined in the plan.
Under the plan, a number of the top competitors including
World Silver Medallist Gillian O'Sullivan and Olympic Silver
medallist Sonia O'Sullivan, along with with the remaining
7 athletes who secured their place for the Olympic Games last
year, together with a number of athletes who are currently
within touching distance of the Olympic Standard, all received
additional funding to support their training in the build-up
for the games.
The AEP programme, however, is not just about funding, as
the recently appointed High Performance Director Elaine Fitzgerald
is also currently in the process of setting up new systems
in Ireland for the operation of the sport at a World Class
Level as well as ensuring that information is effectively
communicated to athletes and coaches at all times, making
sure they  have
constant access to cutting edge knowledge and research.
Additionally, and in cooperation with the National Coaching
and Training Centre, a number of regional support service
networks are being set up to ensure the athletes have a world
class level of care and support in all areas of performance
including the areas of sports science, medical physiotherapy,
biomechanics, nutrition, and psychology, all working in unison,
ensuring the athletes have the strongest possible support
team in the build up to the games.
This will effectively mean, that the Irish team for this
Summer's Games, will be the best prepared and most professional
ever to represent the country in the 100 year history of the
Olympic movement.
The selection for the AEP panel was not easy and a certain
amount of disappointment was inevitable according to Fitzgerald.
"Selection at this level is always difficult because
you not only have to look at recent performance but also potential
and signs of good championship performers. All of the athletes
on the Panel have proven that they have to ability to compete
at the highest level and their plans are in place for the
Games. Unfortunately there has to be a cut off point and some
top class competitors fell outside the programme the Association
has committed to assisting athletes to ensure that they have
the necessary opportunities to gain qualification"
In the end the selection criteria was finalised as follows:
· A or B standard from 2003
· A standard from 2002 in the case of injury in 2003
· Exceptional performance at World Level
The AEP squad has now been finalised with 18 members, which
represents the largest AEP Panel
across all the sports of the olympic movement.
"We were pleased to get 18 on the panel, although we
had initially hoped to get more . Athletics is so diverse
with all the different disciplines and with a mixture of well
established athletes still performing at the highest level
and the talented group of young athletes coming through we
have a huge panel to choose from. Competing at the highest
level is no easy task
and just affording an athlete the opportunity to compete in
Athens just to experience an Olympics could well bear fruit
down the road in Bejing and beyond. It is important that we
look at the over-all picture but with obvious focus on Athens
this time round." added Fitzgerald who herself is no
stranger to world class competition, having represented Ireland
with distinction at the 1999 World Championships in Seville
over 1500m.
The following are the athletes named on the panel:
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
| · Sonia O'Sullivan | 5000m/10000m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
| · Gillian O'Sullivan | 20km walk |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Mark Carroll |10,000/marathon |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· James Nolan |1,500m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Paul Brizzel |200m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Olive Loughnane |20km walk |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Jamie Costin |50km walk |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Derval O'Rourke |100H |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Cathal Lombard |5,000m/10,000m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Paul McKee |400m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Catherina Mc |10,000m marathon |
|Kiernan | |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Peter Coghlan |110m Hurdles |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
| · Gareth Turnball | 1,500m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
| · Robert Heffernan | 20km walk |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Gary Ryan |200m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Karen Shinkins |400m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
|· Ciara Sheehy |200m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
| · Dave McCarthy | 400m |
|-------------------------+-------------------------|
The AEP Panel was given a great boost at the weekend at the
British AAA's Championships in Sheffield where Irish athletes
took home an unprecedented 8 of the 12 sprint medals on offer
with gold going to Paul Brizzel and Ciara Sheehy in the 200m
and Rob Daly and David McCarthy taking the first two places
in the 400m.
The next step on the road to Athens is the National Indoor
Championships in the Odyssey Arena, Belfast on Saturday and
Sunday next.
For further details contact
Elaine Fitzgerald
High Performance Manager
11 Prospect Road
Glasnevin
Dublin 9
087-9782478
Michael Quinlan
087-9173445
Pierce O'Callaghan
087-6645198
www.athleticsireland.ie
Source the Athletics Ireland
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