Ian O'Riordanprofiles the 54 Irish athletes bidding for glory in Beijing.
ATHLETICS
FIONNUALA BRITTON
Age: 23.
Home town: Wicklow.
Club: Slí Cualann.
Event: 3,000-metre steeplechase.
AN OUTSTANDING junior cross-country talent, Britton proved she could run on the track as well when she made the final of the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the World
Championships in Osaka last summer, her best of 9:41.36 world class in what is still a developing event.
She is, however, a cross-country specialist, underlined by her silver medal at the European under-23 championships two years ago. A postgraduate student at Dublin City University, she has struggled a little on the track this summer, and is facing a difficult task of qualification.
MICHELLE CAREY
Age: 27.
Home town: Dublin.
Club: Dublin Striders AC.
Event: 400-metre hurdles.
CAREY was a relatively undistinguished junior but made steady progress throughout her early 20s to claim the ultimate reward: Olympic selection. Her move to Loughborough University back in 2001 was the start of that progress, where she began to work with coach Nick Dakin. She is still based there.
Last month Carey won a seventh national title in her event, but her Olympic qualification was eventually decided on a series of close calls to the A standard of 55.60 seconds - one of the most difficult standards among the track events.
THOMAS CHAMNEY
Age: 24.
Home town: Clonmel.
Club: Crusaders AC.
Event: 800 metres.
AFTER FIVE years on scholarship in Notre Dame University, Chamney began project "Madra08" - the purpose of which was to qualify for Beijing. He initially went to train in Spain, then moved to Florida to work with his old college coach Seán McManus.
It was a courageous move, and despite being laid low with illness twice earlier in the summer, last month he ran 1:46.66 in Italy - just shy of the 1:46 A standard. After winning the National title, he was one of three B-standard athletes accepted by the Olympic Council right on the cut-off date.
JAMIE COSTIN
Age: 31.
Home town: Ring, Waterford.
Club: West Waterford AC.
Event: 50-kilometre walk.
FEW IRISH Olympians could rival the spirit and courage of Costin, who made his Olympic debut in Sydney, and then went to Athens four years ago with hopes of a high finish. Instead, he crashed his car into a cement lorry nine days before he was set to compete, breaking his back in two places, and requiring almost six months in a full body cast.
Costin travelled a long road to recovery, then in May of last year secured his Olympic qualification with a 15th-place finish at the European race-walking cup in Leamington, England.
ALISTAIR CRAGG
Age: 28.
Home town: Johannesburg/Arkansas, USA.
Club: Clonliffe Harriers.
Event: 1,500/5,000 metres.
FOUR YEARS ago Cragg was Ireland's sole male track finalist, making the 5,000-metre final and posting in a highly creditable 12th place. This underlined the potential of the South African-born Cragg, who a year later won the European Indoor gold over 3,000 metres and early last year improved the Irish 10,000m record to 27:39.55.
There have been more lows than highs in between, not least of all the failure to finish the European championship 5,000 metres in 2006 and exiting in the heats of the World Championships last summer.
JOANNE CUDDIHY
Age: 24.
Home town: Kilkenny.
Club: Kilkenny City Harriers.
Event: 400 metres.
AFTER A couple of years of exciting progress, including making the European championship final in 2006, last summer Cuddihy became the first Irish woman to run the 400 metres under 51 seconds, clocking 50.73 in the semi-finals of the World
Championships in Osaka.
Putting her medical studies at UCD on hold, and basing herself in Loughborough along with David Gillick, Cuddihy had higher ambitions for 2008, but injuries greatly upset her training, and Beijing became a race against time - her main ambition now is to do her year-long training some justice.
PAULINE CURLEY
Age: 39.
Home town: Tullamore.
Club: Tullamore Harriers.
Event: Marathon.
IF ANY athlete deserved a fairytale ending to a career then it's Curley, who has given almost two decades of service to Irish distance running. She started running in Tullamore Vocational School, but didn't pursue it competitively until a few years later when she met her husband, Adrian, at the gym at Tullamore Harriers clubhouse, and he remains a key influence on her career.
She made several breakthroughs, the highlight when she was part of the Irish team that won bronze medals at the 1997 World Cross Country in Turin. Almost reluctantly, she turned to the marathon, winning her debut in Dublin three years ago in
2:42:16. Last April, she went to Rotterdam and ran 2:39:01 to finish ninth, just short of the A standard (2:37), but well inside the B standard (2:42).
MARTIN FAGAN
Age: 25.
Home town: Mullingar.
Club: Mullingar Harriers.
Event: Marathon.
FOR THE first time since 1992 Ireland has an Olympic marathon representative, and Fagan is most deserving of the honour. He honed his talent at Providence College, Rhode Island under the coaching of Ray Treacy, brother of John, and then last September moved to Flagstaff, Arizona.
His Olympic quest nearly came undone when visa issues prevented his return to the US after he competed at the European cross-country, but he rescheduled that quest for Dubai in January, and in his debut clocked 2:14:06
to secure the A standard.
DAVID GILLICK
Age: 25.
Home town: Dublin.
Club: Dundrum South Dublin.
Event: 400 metres.
WINNING THE European Indoor title in 2005 was a dramatic way to mark his arrival as a 400-metre runner, and Gillick has certainly lived up to the hype. He defended the title last year after making an important move to Loughborough University to develop under the coaching of Nick Dakin, and made a leap forward this summer when improving his Irish record to a world-class 45.12.
With his confidence and experience where it needs to be, Gillick now has a chance of making the Olympic final in what is one of the most competitive Olympic events.
COLIN GRIFFIN
Age: 26.
Home town: Ballinamore, Leitrim.
Club: Ballinamore AC.
Event: 50-kilometre walk.
LIKE MOST of his fellow race walkers, Griffin is highly dedicated and an enthusiast for hard training, basing himself between his native Leitrim and Italy, where he works with his coach Sandro Damilano.
That commitment was rewarded when he made last summer's World Championships in Osaka, and although he was disqualified, his season's best of 3:51:32 ranked him 19th in the world. For obvious reasons, the 50km walk is largely about finishing in one piece, and given the tough conditions in Beijing, that really will be Griffin's main ambition.
ROBERT HEFFERNAN
Age: 29.
Home town: Cork.
Club: Togher AC.
Event: 20-kilometre walk.
A VETERAN of two Olympics and three World Championships, Heffernan
has outstanding international experience. However, he's only now coming into his prime, as last year's sixth-place finish at the World Championships in Osaka demonstrated.
Two years ago he linked up with Poland's double Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski, arguably the greatest race walker in history. This year he finished ninth at the World Cup. Considering all that can go wrong in race walking, he will need to bring all his experience to bear. If he does anything is possible.
PAUL HESSION
Age: 25.
Home town: Athenry.
Club: Athenry AC.
Event: 200 metres.
THE PERFECT example of how hard work and dedication can pay off. Despite limited success as a junior, Hession has progressed with superb consistency and was unlucky
to miss out on the Athens Olympics by two-hundredths of a second.
Putting his medical studies on hold two years ago, Hession made his biggest leap of all last summer - lowering the Irish 100-metre record to 10.18 and then the 200-metre record to 20.30 - which culminated with a semi-final appearance at the World Championships in Osaka.
OLIVE LOUGHNANE
Age: 32.
Home town:
Carrabane, Galway.
Club: Loughrea AC.
Event: 20km walk.
ARGUABLY IRELAND'S most experienced Olympian in Beijing, a veteran of both Sydney and Athens, and several other major championships, Loughnane has made an impressive return to her event after missing 2006 to give birth to her first daughter, Eimear.
A qualified teacher now based in Cork, Loughnane last summer finished 17th at the World Championships, and several higher positions in competitions this year suggest she could be on for a top-10 place to rival the 10th-place finish of Gillian O'Sullivan in the same event in Sydney eight years ago.
RÓISÍN McGETTIGAN
Age: 28.
Home town: Wicklow
Club: Slí Cualann.
Event: 3,000-metre steeplechase.
THE 3,000-metre steeplechase may appear an easy transition for a distance runner, but it's highly technical, and McGettigan has brilliantly combined her running talents with the demands of the barriers. Her Irish record last year of 9:28.29 was 13th-fastest in the world, and she backed that up with a 10th-place finish at the World Championships, and second place at the World Athletics final in Stuttgart.
After a slow start to the season, she discovered her best form with perfect timing, running 9:30.56 at the Athens Grand Prix.
DERVAL O'ROURKE
Age: 27.
Home town: Cork.
Club: Leevale AC.
Event: 100-metre hurdles.
AFTER THE celebrated heights of 2006 - World Indoor champion over the 60-metre hurdles in Moscow, joint silver medallist over the 100-metre hurdles at the European Championships in Gothenburg - O'Rourke experienced a difficult year in 2007, having been injured during the early months.
As a result of that, she made some major changes for the Olympic season, basing herself in Bath to work with the British sprint-hurdles coach Malcolm Arnold while retaining close ties with her Irish coach Seán Cahill.
The Cork woman has a ferocious competitive spirit but so far this season has been largely inconsistent, still short of her Irish record of 12.72 seconds. It will take something special if she's to achieve her goal progressing to the final.
EILEEN O'KEEFFE
Age: 27.
Home town: Callan, Kilkenny.
Club: Kilkenny City Harriers.
Event: Hammer.
IRELAND'S ATHLETE of the year in 2007, O'Keeffe has single-handedly taken Irish women's hammer throwing into world-class territory. Starting with a series of national records at the Irish championships in Santry, ending with a best of 73.21 metres, O'Keeffe then finished sixth in the final of the World Championships in Osaka.
Her remarkable story, which began with her brother bringing home a hammer training video from the local pound shop, is one of self-motivation and determination, and she remains largely self-coached.
She hasn't yet hit the form of last summer, and given the higher expectations this time around, just making the final is going to be tough.
BADMINTON
SCOTT EVANS
Age: 21.
Home town: Dublin.
Club: Gentofe Badminton.
Event: Singles.
EVANS LEFT Wesley College in Dublin just before his Leaving Cert to pursue a full-time badminton career and becomes Ireland's first male Olympic representative in the event.
That decision meant basing himself in Copenhagen under coach Jim Laugesen, and even with six years of international experience, including a quarter-final placing at last year's US Open, Evans is still improving. Irish champion for the past three years, he secured his Olympic qualification by breaking into the top 50 in the world.
CHLOE MAGEE
Age: 19.
Home town: Raphoe, Donegal.
Club: Gentofe Badminton.
Event: Singles.
IRISH NATIONAL champion for the past two years, Magee has very quickly dominated Irish women's badminton. At 17 she moved to Sweden, where she developed under the Adare man Tom Reidy. She now works under Jim Laugesen in Denmark. London 2012 is when she'll come into her prime.
BOXING
PADDY BARNES
Age: 21.
Home town: Belfast.
Club: Holy Family.
Event: Light-flyweight.
THE FIRST Irish boxer to qualify for Beijing, winning the right at the World Championships in Chicago in November. Boxing out of Holy Family Club in Belfast, under coach Gerry Storey, he has made surprisingly rapid progress and, depending on the draw, could well be the surprise in Beijing as well.
He was national champion in 2007 and 2008 and won the Commonwealth championship of 2007, and at 21, his potential for London in 2012 is obvious.
KENNETH EGAN
Age: 26.
Home town: Neilstown, Dublin.
Club: Neilstown Boxing Club.
Event: Light-heavyweight.
EGAN WON his first national title in 2000, and defended it on every occasion since. Coached by Gerard Fleming, he won European bronze in 2006. He gained Olympic qualification by winning the final qualifying tournament in Athens back in May.
A stylish southpaw, Egan is boxing captain for Beijing and has realistic ambitions of making the semi-finals.
JOHN JOE JOYCE
Age: 20.
Home town: Athy, Kildare.
Club: St Michael's.
Event: Light-welterweight.
AN OUTSTANDING junior, Joyce was born in Limerick into a family with a strong
boxing tradition. He has won 14 Irish titles between various junior and senior ranks, and was European bronze medallist in 2005 and 2006.
Irish senior champion for the past three years, he secured qualification at the last-chance tournament in Athens. He made the last eight at the 2006 World Championships, which indicates his potential.
JOHN JOE NEVIN
Age: 18.
Home town: Mullingar.
Club: Cavan Boxing Club.
Event: Bantamweight.
ONE OF the most exciting teenage talents. His rapid rise from a promising junior champion in 2007 to Irish senior champion in 2008 was underlined when he secured his Olympic qualification in Pescara, Italy, in February.
Although he's the youngest Irish team member in Beijing, he travels with expectations. Coached by Brian McKeown, he is another of the highly promising prospects for London in 2012.
DARREN SUTHERLAND
Age: 26.
Home town: Dublin.
Club: St Saviours Olympic Boxing Academy.
Event: Middleweight.
A STUDENT of sports science and health at Dublin City University, Sutherland is renowned as one of the hardest hitters in European amateur boxing. Has considerable experience and success to date, including the European Union gold medal last year, and five Multi-Nations gold medals.
He made the last eight of the 2005 World Championships, and the last 16 in Chicago last year.
CANOEING
EOIN RHEINISCH
Age: 28.
Home town: Leixlip.
Club: Salmon Leap Canoe
Club.
Event: Kayak K1.
A WORLD CUP gold medalist in Spain in 2004 and a six-time World Cup finalist, Rheinisch made his Olympic debut in Athens four years ago, where he finished 21st of the 25 finalists.
Since then he's remained highly committed to his sport, placing 17th at last year's World Championships, and sixth in the Europeans
CYCLING
PHILIP DEIGNAN
Age: 25.
Home town: Letterkenny, Donegal.
Club: AG2R la Mondial.
Event: Road race.
NINTH at the Under-23 World Championships in 2005, the same year he turned professional, he now races with the French team AG2R la Mondial.
He rode in last year's Tours of Spain and Switzerland, and also in this year's Giro d'Italia. He is a climbing specialist, and the course in Beijing will suit.
DAVID O'LOUGHLIN
Age: 30.
Home town: Cong, Mayo.
Club: Pezula Racing.
Event: 4-kilometre pursuit.
TURNED professional back in 2002 and was rewarded with national road-race titles in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Then he was lured into track cycling, becoming Ireland's first representative in the event since 1992.
A member of the Pezula team, and coached by Tom Evans, he finished sixth in the
4km pursuit at the World Championships in April.
NICOLAS ROCHE
Age: 24.
Home town: Cannes, France.
Club: La Pomme Marseille/Credit Agricole.
Event: Road race.
THE SON of Stephen has been building a successful career of his own. He rode the Giro d'Italia last year, and before that wore yellow and won a stage in the under-23 Tour de France.
He was Irish time-trial champion in 2007, and took fourth in the road-race championships of 2006 and 2007.
ROBIN SEYMOUR
Age: 37.
Home town: Wicklow.
Club: Team Worc (Wicklow Off Road Club).
Event: Mountain bike.
A 14-TIME Irish champion and a veteran of the past two Olympics, his best being 28th in Sydney, Seymour is Ireland's best ever mountain-bike specialist.
He was 35th at last year's European Championships, and has an Olympic ranking of 49th, but Seymour can put his experience to good use in a hugely competitive event.
EQUESTRIAN
GEOFFREY CURREN
Age: 28.
Home town: Fenor, Wexford.
Event: Three-day eventing.
THERE WAS massive disappointment when the Irish eventing team missed out on qualification at last year's European Championships, but the individual ranking of the top five rides eventually earned them a place in for the 2008 Games - and Curren is one of two riders making his Olympic debut.
Based in Dublin and riding with the Army, he learned to ride at the Waterford Pony Club. His speciality is in cross-country, and in June he won the World Cup qualifier at Tattersalls.
NIALL GRIFFIN
Age: 30.
Home town: Enniscorthy.
Event: Three-day eventing.
DESPITE THE strong family hurling ties - his father, Liam, managed Wexford to All-Ireland success in 1996 - Griffin has been a lifelong enthusiast of equestrian sport. He will represent the country with his mount Lorgaine. They have produced several top-three placings at the Olympic-grade event at Punchestown.
DENIS LYNCH
Age: 32.
Home town: Tipperary.
Event: Show jumping.
IRELAND SECURED one Olympic show-jumping qualifying spot thanks to Jessica Kürten, who is ranked third in the world but has declined the chance to compete in her second Olympics. As a result, Horse Sport Ireland team manager Robert Splaine nominated Lynch, who topped the Global Champions' Tour rankings with his horse Lantinus.
Now based in Munster, Germany, Lynch has racked up an unprecedented series of victories on the Grand Prix circuit including Doha in Qatar, La Baule in France, and Rome, Italy, together with notable Nations Cup performances for Ireland in the Samsung Super League. Lynch could well find himself in the hunt for a medal.
LOUISE LYONS
Age: 31.
Home town: Cheshire.
Event: Three-day eventing.
HORSE SPORT Ireland's high-performance coach Ginny Elliot had the difficult task of selecting the five Eventing riders from 14 candidates handed an Olympic debut to the Cheshire-based Lyons as well as Geoffrey Curren.
Lyons's favourite eventing discipline is also cross-country, her best placing to date being 20th position at the European Championships. A fitness fanatic, who ran in last year's London Marathon, Lyons will ride 11-year-old Watership Down at the 2008 Olympic
AUSTIN O'CONNOR
Age: 33.
Home town: Mallow, Cork.
Event: Three-day eventing.
NOW BASED in Somerset, O'Connor made his first big breakthrough in 1999 when he finished fourth at Badminton. A year later, he was selected for the Sydney Olympics, where he rode as a three-day-event individual on Horseware Fabio.
O'Connor was part of the Irish gold-medal-winning team at the European Young Riders championships as far back as 1995. In Beijing, he'll ride the Anglo-Arabian chestnut Hobby du Mee, who at 13 is the oldest horse on the team.
PATRICIA RYAN
Age: 34.
Home town: Bandon, Cork.
Event: Three-day eventing.
RYAN - nee Donegan - rode in the 2000 Sydney Olympics with her mount Don't Step Back, helping the team to a fifth-place finish. For the 2008 Games, she'll ride 12-year-old Fernhill Clover Mist, and one of her best performances of late was a 10th-place finish at Badminton.
She completes a strong Irish challenge at the Olympic venue in Hong Kong.
FENCING
SIOBHÁN BYRNE
Age: 23.
Home town: Eislingen, Germany.
Club: Ohio State University.
Event: Sabre.
THE FIRST Irish fencing representative at the Olympics in 16 years, Byrne was born and raised in Germany, where her father, John, emigrated some 30 years ago to work in construction. Having tried most sports growing up, she discovered fencing at age seven, and has ever since been committed to being the best at it. She placed 27th at the World Championships in 2004, and that helped earn a scholarship to Ohio State University, where she came under the coaching expertise of the former Olympic and World medallist Vladimir Nazlymov of Russia.
Qualification in the event is extremely demanding, and Byrne earned the right after taking silver at the qualifying tournament in Istanbul last April.
ROWING
RICHARD ARCHIBALD
Age: 30.
Home town: Coleraine.
Club: Lady Victoria Boat Club.
Event: Lightweight coxless four
ALONG WITH Paul Griffin, Archibald has been an ever-present in the Irish lightweight four crew going back to their qualification for the Athens Olympics four years ago - starting with the seventh-place finish at the 2002 World Championships in Seville and then the silver-medal effort at the 2004 World Cup in Munich.
A qualified architect, and married two years ago, Archibald remains a key member of the crew, not least because of his experience, proven with the bronze-medal performance at the 2006 World Championships.
PAUL GRIFFIN
Age: 29.
Home town: Killarney.
Club: Muckross Rowing Club.
Event: Lightweight coxless four (stroke).
HUGELY EXPERIENCED, Griffin was part of the lightweight four that took third in the Nations Cup in 2000. A year later he took silver at the World Under-23 championships, and was then part of the lightweight foursome that rowed in the Athens Olympics four years ago - they placed sixth.
Qualifying for Beijing hasn't proved easy, and after surprisingly missing out at last year's World Championships in Munich, the crew earned their spot with a second-place finish at the final qualifying event in Poland.
CATHAL MOYNIHAN
Age: 27.
Home town: Killarney.
Club: Neptune.
Event: Lightweight coxless four (bow).
CAME INTO the lightweight four crew when Gearóid Towey took his break in 2007, and was part of the team that disappointingly missed out on qualification at the World Championships. When Towey returned, Moynihan lost his place but continued to be part of the Irish elite training group.
Things changed again when Eugene Coakley was replaced by Moynihan at short notice for the last-chance qualifier in Poland. He kept his place for the final crew announced by coach John Holland - with Coakley's young brother Richard named as spare man.
GEARÓID TOWEY
Age: 31.
Home town: Fermoy.
Club: Fermoy Rowing Club.
Event: Lightweight coxless four.
SOMETHING OF a legend in Irish rowing, Towey was four years ago bidding for Olympic glory with Sam Lynch in the much-hyped lightweight double sculls — but they failed to make the final. Towey later took an extended break from competitive rowing, not to rest but to row across the Atlantic.
He returned to the Irish set-up at the end of last season, and soon won his place back in the lightweight four - having helped them claim the bronze medal at the 2006 World
Championships.
SEÁN CASEY
Age: 30.
Home town: Killarney.
Club: Muckross Rowing Club.
Event: Heavyweight coxless four.
CASEY IS one of two changes from the heavyweight four that secured Olympic qualification at last year's World Championships (the other being Jonno Devlin), and his call-up is just reward for his enduring commitment to the sport.
With Devlin, he was originally given the chance to qualify for Beijing as part of a heavyweight pair, but when they missed out there, coach Harald Jahrling decided instead to make him and Devlin the powerhouse of the four in the middle seats.
JONNO DEVLIN
Age: 32.
Home town: Oxford.
Club: Oxford Brookes Boat Club.
Event: Heavyweight coxless four.
BORN IN South Africa, Devlin rowed for Britain at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but
came into the Irish rowing set-up from the British system last year, initially rowing in a heavyweight pair with Seán Casey.
A graduate in computer systems from Oxford Brookes University, and currently studying marketing, Devlin effectively took over one of the places belonging to James Wall as coach Harald Jahrling selected what he believes was the strongest crew for Beijing.
CORMAC FOLAN
Age: 25.
Home town: Galway.
Club: NUI Galway Boat Club.
Event: Heavyweight coxless four (bow).
THE GALWAY rower was part of the original crew that last summer qualified for Beijing thanks to their 10th-place finish at the World Championships - thus becoming Ireland's first Olympic rowing heavyweights since Pat McDonagh and Frank Moore in 1988.
In the changes from that qualifying crew, Folan switches to the bow seat in place of James Wall, the youngest of the six contenders. Folan has over a decade of rowing experience and will help ensure the boat maximises its potential.
SEÁN O'NEILL
Age: 27.
Home town: Pallasgreen, Limerick.
Club: St Michael's Rowing Club.
Event: Heavyweight coxless four.
BORN AND raised in Limerick, O'Neill moved to New Zealand as a teenager. He returned to Ireland in 2006 to join coach Harald Jahrling's system, and soon
put himself in contention for a place in the heavyweight boat that last summer qualified for Beijing at the World Championships, finishing 10th.
Originally, Galway's Alan Martin was ever-present as stroke of the crew, but O'Neill took the stroke seat for the recent World Cup in Ponzan. Jahrling has decided to stick with that foursome.
SAILING
TIM GOODBODY
Home town: Delgany, Wicklow.
Club: Royal Irish Yacht Club/Delgany Sailing Club.
Event: Finn.
WITH A current world ranking of 17, Goodbody was the first Irish sailor to qualify for Beijing thanks to his 25th-place finish at the 2007 World Championships in Portugal, after an excellent last race pushed him into the high overall placing. He'd also finished 28th in the previous World championships, and 47th back in 2005. Known for his versatility in the boat, Goodbody has travelled the world to gain experience for what will be his first Olympics, and is targeting a top-30 finish.
STEPHEN MILNE
Age: 22.
Home town: Bangor, Down.
Club: Royal
Belfast Yacht Club.
Event: Star, crew.
LIKE PETER O'LEARY, Milne had to endure some controversy before his Beijing selection was finalised, and together they'll make up one of the youngest pairs to compete at the sailing events in Qingdao, thus underlining their potential for the London Olympics of 2012.
Despite the selection controversy, Milne and O'Leary have recorded some excellent results of their own, including a first-place finish at the World Star Championships in Miami, although their current world ranking stands at 47.
PHIL LAWTON
Age: 30:
Home town: Dún Laoghaire, Dublin.
Club: Royal Irish Yacht Club.
Event: 470, crew.
THIS IS the first Olympics for the Dún Laoghaire resident, and he's taken time out from his PhD studies at Trinity College Dublin to prepare. Lawton is partnered in the 470 by Gerald Owens, and is coached by Ross Killian, who four years ago partnered Owens.
The pair finished 23rd in the recent World Championships to secure Olympic qualification, having placed 40th last year, and other pre-Olympic results
include an eighth-place finish at the Sail Melbourne event and an eighth in the Holland Regatta.
PETER O'LEARY
Age: 22.
Home town: Cork.
Club: Royal Cork Yacht Club.
Event: Star Helm.
O'LEARY WAS selected in the Star class along with Stephen Milne, but not without some controversy, as Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks had essentially won the Irish qualification spot after finishing 14th at the World Championships, only for the Irish Sailing Association to select the O'Leary-Milne pairing.
Hailing from a famous Cork sailing bloodline, O'Leary works in insurance and sails out of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, with his selection for Beijing underlining his billing as one of the most exciting young Irish sailors.
GERALD OWENS
Age: 29.
Home town: Booterstown, Dublin.
Club: Royal St George Yacht Club.
Event: 470, helm.
FOUR YEARS ago Owens partnered Ross Killian in the same event at the Athens Olympics, where they finished a creditable 16th. He has considerable experience in the 470 double-handed dinghy, going back to 2001, and should be able to put that to good use in the testing waters off Qingdao.
Owens and Lawton are currently ranked 19th in the world, and with Owens having finished 15th at the World Championships with his previous partner and now coach Ross Killian, there are strong hopes of another top 20-place this time around.
CIARA PEELO
Age: 28.
Home town: Malahide, Dublin.
Club: Howth Yacht Club.
Event: Laser radial.
SELECTED TO carry the Irish flag in the opening ceremony. Once that honour is out of the way, Peelo will chase a high finish in the laser radial, having finished eighth at an Olympic testing event in China in 2006, and previously been ranked 24th in the world (she is now ranked 38th).
Peelo secured her Olympic qualification by finishing an impressive 29th from a fleet of 116 at the last World Championships, and also finished 20th at the 2007 European Championships. A qualified PE teacher, she has a graduate degree in Business Studies.
SHOOTING
DEREK BURNETT
Age: 38
Home town:
Kenagh, Longford.
Club: Athlone Clay Pigeon club.
Event: Trap.
EIGHT YEARS ago, Burnett gained a wild-card entry to the Sydney Olympics, and ended up finishing 18th. Four years later he went to Athens with real ambitions and ended up seventh. Now he hopes to make the final six in Beijing, and thus enter the shoot-off for a medal.
There is reason to believe it is possible. Burnett also has a shooting-equipment business, but has put that on hold in recent months to train full-time, splitting his time between Longford, Kuwait and Milan. Coached by Kevin Kilt.
SWIMMING
ANDREW BREE
Age: 27
Home town: Helen's Bay, Down.
Club: Ards Swimming club/University of Tennessee.
Event: 200-metre breaststroke.
AN OUTSTANDING junior, winning his first Irish senior title at 17, the same year he swam in Commonwealth Games, Bree achieved Bstandards for Sydney in both the 100- and 200-metre breaststroke, took European silver in 2003, and then last summer secured an A standard to compete in his second Olympics.
In late March it was announced that Bree had failed a drugs test at the European Championships in Hamburg last December after showing traces of a stimulant, which he put down to his use of an inhaler. On appeal to Fina, a potential six-month ban was reduced to a warning, and having since broken his Irish 100-metre breaststroke record, and taking silver at the British championships, Bree is now eying a place in the semi-finals.
AISLING COONEY
Age: 18.
Home town: Sandymount, Dublin.
Club: ESB Swim Club.
Event: 100-metre backstroke.
AN OUTSTANDING underage talent. Cooney was last year voted Irish swimmer of 2007, and has already medalled at the British championships and was a semi-finalist at the European championships in Eindhoven last March, ending up 11th overall.
The Olympic Council of Ireland agreed special criteria with Swim Ireland whereby young swimmers displaying good potential would be considered for Beijing on B standards, and Cooney, who is coached at the ESB club by Bill McCarthy, knocked five seconds off her best backstroke time over the past year, thus meriting her Beijing Olympic selection in what will be an important part of her build-up for London 2012.
MELANIE NOCHER
Age: 20.
Home town: Belfast.
Club: City of Belfast.
Event: 200metre backstroke.
NOMINATED FOR Beijing despite not securing the A standard, she was rightfully selected in a welcome agreement with the Olympic Council of Ireland in the build-up to London 2012.
However, just three days after that decision, Nocher achieved the A standard, swimming a brilliant 2:12.71 for the 200-metre backstroke to win the gold medal at the British championships in Liverpool. A student at the University of Ulster, Nocher was a semi-finalist at the European Championships in Eindhoven in March, finishing ninth overall.
TRIATHLON
EMMA DAVIS
Age: 22.
Home town: Woking.
Club: St Avertin Sports 37.
Event: Triathlon.
IRELAND'S FIRST Olympic representative in the triathlon, Davis was born and raised in Woking in Surrey, her father a native of Bangor, County Down. Initially a swimming specialist, she has made remarkable progress at triathlon over the past year, rising from a world ranking of 387 to as high as 46th.
Olympic qualification involved a long and arduous process; it included three top-10 placings in World Cup events and climaxed with her 15th place finish at the World Championships in Vancouver. Coached and managed by her boyfriend, Richard Stannard, she holds an honours degree in maths from Bath University,