Athletics: Irish runner Martin Fagan has qualified for this year's Beijing Olympics after finishing 13th in the Dubai marathon this morning.
Fagan needed to finish inside 2 hours 15 minutes to make the grade and did so with a time of 2.14.06. Ethiopian Haile Gebreselassie won the race in a time of 2.04.53, second only to his own record set in Berlin last year.
Mullingar Harriers runner Fagan was relieved to make the grad after he encountered several problems during the race, especially between 25 and 35 kilometres when he was troubled by a hip injury.
"I was in agony for over ten kilometres and I had to stop and stretch a number of times so that I could get just a little bit of relief from the pain," he said.
"I had been having a few problems in recent times with my back and hip, but I never experienced anything like the pain I had at that critical point of the race. However, I fought on and it was a huge relief to finish inside the Olympic Qualifying standard. That was my target and I was determined to make it."
The Irishman had also expected to have been able to keep track of his split times but was not in a position to do so after he discovered no clocks on the course.
Irish Team manager Patsy McGonagle said afterwards: "I am delighted for Martin. The route he had to take following his visa problems was an extremely lonely one but this shows the fight and character of the young lad and this is a just reward for him.
"For Martin's development it is vital that he experiences Beijing and if he performs well out there then there is no reason why he cannot win a medal in London. Hopefully this should ensure a quick return for Martin to his training facility in Arizona so he can get well prepared for August."
Fagan had originally planned on securing qualification at the Houston marathon on the 13th of this month but was denied re-entry to the US. He had been training in Flagstaff, Arizona, with elite American runners.