Focus must go on sports where we have chance of winning - Cullen

IRELAND MUST refocus its Olympic resources towards sports in which it has a chance of gaining medals, Minister for Sport Martin Cullen said yesterday.

Commenting on the Republic's performance in the Beijing games, Mr Cullen said it was clear there were "hard and soft medals" in terms of what Irish teams were likely to achieve.

The Minister, who missed Irish Olympic boxer Kenny Egan's final fight because he was typhoon-bound in Hong Kong, congratulated the Irish contender on winning a silver medal.

He said boxing, rowing and cycling were three sports in which Irish teams stood a good chance of medals at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Despite difficulties arising over Irish rider Denis Lynch's disqualification from the individual show jumping final, Mr Cullen included equestrian competitions among the events on which Irish competitors should concentrate.

Mr Cullen said international Olympians still valued Irish equestrian expertise and pointed out that "18 of the top horses were Irish-bred".

"Austin O'Connor [team show jumper] got two clear rounds which is as good as it gets," he said, adding that what happened in relation to Denis Lynch "is clearly not satisfactory".

According to the Minister, the strategy of playing to known strengths was effectively put in place by the British team in Beijing. "The Brits got 19 medals largely by targeting strengths like rowing and cycling. They looked at cycling and discovered all the medals were going to a few teams.

"There would have been no point in them targeting something like table tennis as they knew they would never beat the Chinese.

"In that they weren't the first. The Australians targeted swimming before them," the Minister said.

''If you look at the success of the Afro-Caribbean athletes, it would be virtually impossible for a white person to win a [sprint] medal.

"That is not to say you wouldn't get an exceptional athlete but in general it is hard to win."

The Minister, who will be at Dublin airport this afternoon to welcome back most of the Irish Olympians, said he would go to London in the next few weeks to talk to Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, on the strategy employed by the British team.

Mr Cullen is to be accompanied by former Olympian and current chief executive of the Irish Sports Council, John Treacy. In the meantime, Mr Cullen said he was to hold meetings with the representative groups and the sports council on how best to focus resources.

"By resources I mean, too, the commitment by individuals to spend four years - it is a big commitment . . . Eoin Rheinisch is an example of what can be achieved when you put the resources in place to match commitment."

While there are four years to go before the London Olympics, Mr Cullen said he did not believe there was time for complacency.

The Minister said he wanted to see extra investment in sports facilities at Abbotstown, saying: "We don't need to go mad but we need to develop some basic facilities."

He said he thought Ireland might have a better chance in London as the climate would be more familiar and there was not such a great distance to travel.

Mr Cullen also spoke of his disappointment at missing Kenny Egan's final fight against Zhang Xiaoping in the light-heavyweight final in Beijing, particularly as he had attended all of Egan's earlier rounds.

"I was in Hong Kong for the equestrian events and couldn't get back because a force 10 typhoon started up. Force 10 is the worst and we couldn't get in or out.

''We tried trains, cars and provincial airports but there was nothing to be done."

In the end, the Minister had to watch the fight on television.

Boxers give remarkable value for money: page 22