ATHLETICS:As we near the finishing line, Olympic year has become predictable and boring and could do with a gear row or some other controversy to liven things up, writes Ian O'Riordan.

WE SHOULD have guessed that all this love and peace was too good to be true. There are reports of trouble in our Olympic preparations after all, and it may not be long before Pat Hickey is back in the headlines, just like the good old days.

Half of the Irish athletics team are reportedly threatening to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing over the Olympic Council of Ireland's refusal to accept B-standards in qualification, thus denying some fellow athletes the trip of a lifetime.

This, say the athletes, is a violation of human rights and even though they weren't actually planning on being in the opening ceremony in the first place, it's an important statement nonetheless.

The other half of the Irish athletics team are reportedly intent on competing naked in defiance of the Olympic Council of Ireland's insistence that they wear Asics gear. It doesn't matter that these athletes are in fact sponsored by Asics, in the form of valuable food stamps, because there is always the danger of being told to strip in the tunnel and change into something more figure-hugging.

Some of the Irish athletes just short of qualifying are reportedly seeking a change in allegiance, possibly to Qatar, claiming the cut-off date of July 21st is too soon.

There is trouble on the official side as well, with team manager Patsy McGonagle reportedly on the verge of resigning in advance of the Games, in case Ireland does indeed come home without a medal. At least that way any blame would rest solely with Pat Hickey.

Worst of all, the Irish Sports Council have reportedly intercepted a package of the blood-boosting drug EPO destined for one of our Olympic qualifiers. This could prove a dreadful repeat of the Cathal Lombard scandal. John Treacy has denied any knowledge of this.

In the meantime, while those reports remain unfounded, there is a distinct lack of any excitement in the race for Olympic qualification. Even with the finish line in sight, it remains deadly predictable and uninspiring. Truth is we could do with a gear row or some other controversy right now. If only to liven things up a little.

Consider this: of the 13 Irish athletes bound for Beijing, 12 of them achieved the necessary A-standard last summer - as in 2007. The sole exception is Martin Fagan, who ran the marathon A-standard in Dubai back on January 18th. What that means is that not one additional athlete has so far qualified in the current track and field season, and with just three weeks to do so, this looks like being an unprecedented chapter in Irish Olympic history.

Beyond some unlikely breakthrough, there's little sign of any further qualifiers ahead of July 21st, which, by the way, is a perfectly reasonable cut-off date. The men's 4x400 metre relay team are currently ranked 18th in the world, with the top 16 invited to Beijing. They still have until July 8th to improve their ranking, and there's talk of one last effort in Spain next Wednesday, but even if they did make the top 16, they'd need to defend that until July 23rd. It's not going to happen.

Despite all the fuss that used to be made about sending athletes with B-standards, there's not much to get excited about there either. Only two Irish athletes have managed B-standards this year; Pauline Curley in the marathon, and Michelle Carey in the 400 metre hurdles. It is a shame they'll miss out, although it's not exactly by a split second, and it's practically Irish law now that the A-standard is the only passport to the Olympics.

For some other Beijing hopefuls, it just hasn't worked out, and their times don't suggest it will. Thomas Chamney and David Campbell have both had the figures 1:46.00 written inside their locker door for the past year - the A-standard for the 800 metres. They've made every possible effort and sacrifice to achieve that, yet Chamney's best this season is 1:47.33, and Campbell's is 1:48.34. If one or both of them pull it off in the next three weeks it will feel as good as winning Olympic gold.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the race for Olympic qualification is the lack of any 1,500 metre interest. Early on, it seemed both Gareth Turnbull and Liam Reale had an outside chance of running the A-standard of 3:36.60, especially with such glowing reports coming from their training camp in Florida. However, Turnbull has only run 3:42.33, and Reale 3:43.40, and neither look set to run much quicker.

Alistair Cragg did run the 1,500 metres A-standard last summer, but naturally his focus for Beijing is the 5,000 metres. So, unless Turnbull or Reale or someone else produces something truly spectacular, Ireland will have no men's 1,500 metre representative at the Olympics for the first time since Rome in 1960, when Ronnie Delany, who was the defending gold medallist in the event, limited himself to the 800 metres because of injury.

Delany had in fact been selected for the 1,500 metres, yet missed several weeks training with an Achilles tendon strain. After being eliminated in the second round of the 800 metres (his first competitive races in over a year and a half), Delany duly scratched from the 1,500 metres.

Inevitably then, it appears that blazing trail begun by Delany and continued by Basil Clifford, Frank Murphy, Niall O'Shaughnessy, Eamonn Coghlan, Ray Flynn, Paul Donavon, Frank O'Mara, Marcus O'Sullivan, Gerry O'Reilly, Shane Healy, Niall Bruton and James Nolan has come to an end. We can only pray this is temporary.

Clearly, Ireland has lost its competitive edge in distance running, which is only partly compensated by the improvements in the much shorter distances. With the exception of the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase, Alistair Cragg remains our only Olympic qualifier in the headline events between 800 and 10,000 metres - men and women - and no one should need reminding he was born in Johannesburg.

Last Wednesday, most of the Irish team managers for Beijing gathered in the Olympic Council of Ireland office, a beautiful old stone building facing out onto Howth harbour. It could have been a gathering of old school friends, such was the camaraderie in the air.

B-standards, gear, drugs, cut-off dates - none of these were even mentioned. Maybe we are now an Olympic nation at peace. Maybe all we ever needed was love. Maybe Pat Hickey can forgive as well as forget. Yet the product of all this appears to be a general slowdown in the race for Olympic qualification.

The full implications of it won't be known until after Beijing. For sure, this will be the best prepared Irish team in Olympic history. If it turns out they've no side issues to worry about - and all previous Olympic troubles are truly in the past - then of course there will be no excuses either.

Those still in the race, don't give up. Your country needs you right now.

All this love and peace gets boring very quickly. And there's something about that number 13 I just don't like.