ATHLETICS NEWS:PAUL HESSION has abandoned his training base in Scotland and returned to Ireland in an effort to regain his best form ahead of next summer's London Olympics.
The Irish 100 and 200 metre record holder – who has already secured the necessary A-standard for London over 200 metres – has been in Glenrothes, near Edinburgh, for the last six years, working under veteran Scottish coach Stuart Hogg. Hession maintains the decision to move home was mutual, as both felt it was in Hession’s best interest to return home in order to perform to the best of his ability in London.
He’ll now join up with Dublin sprint coach John Coghlan, brother of Irish 110 metre hurdles record holder Peter Coghlan, and who already works with emerging sprint talent Steven Colvert. Coghlan has also spent time coaching in America under their leading coaches Loren Seagrave and Paul Doyle, in Atlanta, and also has a degree in Sports Science from the University of Limerick.
“Stuart and I have a relationship which is built on mutual respect,” says Hession, “and he has provided me with world-class coaching and mentoring over the last number of years and while John will now be my coach, Stuart will continue to be an important part of my support structure.”
It seemed inevitable Hession would have to try something different for London: he was inside the A-standard with the 20.51 he clocked at the National Championships in August, but was ultimately disappointing at the World Championships in Daegu when failing to make even the semi-finals.
Hession’s national record of 20.30 now stretches back to 2007, when he first started working with Hogg, and although he came very close to making the Olympic final in Beijing, hasn’t hit those same standards in the seasons since.
Hession is one of 10 Irish athletes to have so far secured the necessary A-standard for London next year – along with a women’s 4 x 400m relay team, who are currently inside the necessary top-16 ranking: along with Hession there’s Ciarán O’Lionaird (1,500m), Alistair Cragg (5,000m), and Rob Heffernan and Brendan Boyce (both 50km walk) on the men’s front, plus Derval O’Rourke (100m hurdles), Fionnuala Britton and Stephanie Reilly (both 3,000m steeplechase), Deirdre Ryan (high jump) and Olive Loughnane (20km walk) on the women’s front, plus the six-athlete member relay.
The cut-off date for qualification is next July 8th – with the Games beginning on July 27th – now a mere 287 days away.
In the meantime, Dubliner Mark Kenneally will look to become the first Irish marathon qualifier when he runs in Amsterdam on Sunday, looking to clock sub-2:15 to make London. Kenneally ran 2:17.22 in Vienna last April, and looks in even better shape now, having gone to considerable lengths to get himself to Amsterdam in peak condition, including sleeping in a portable altitude tent.
Galway’s Gary Thornton is also down to run Amsterdam with an outside chance of making the standard, and while Martin Fagan came agonisingly close in Chicago last Sunday (he was on 2:11 pace when dropping out with one mile a go), it could be Alistair Cragg offers the best chance of qualifying when he runs the Fukuoka marathon in Japan in December.
