Olympic Games: With the expected authority and, it appears, little sympathy the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) has rejected a last request to have Maria McCambridge added to the Irish team headed for Athens.

In the process it has ended her hopes of fulfilling her ultimate sporting ambition, and also left a trail of disappointment within Irish athletics circles.

Last Saturday in Belgium, McCambridge ran well inside the A-standard qualifying time for the 5,000 metres, and, under normal circumstances, should be joining Sonia O'Sullivan in that event in Athens later this month. Her time of 15 minutes 5.86 seconds also made her the third fastest Irish women of all time over the distance, but that still wasn't good enough for the OCI, which has refused to budge on its qualification cut-off of July 20th.

OCI president Pat Hickey confirmed yesterday that a final appeal had been received from the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI), primarily to reconsider the cut-off date in light of McCambridge's situation, but also to plead the cases of three other athletes with B-standards.

"We've replied immediately to that request to say it has been rejected," said Hickey. "We've spelled it out to them very clearly that in the extension we granted last month from July 3rd to July 20th we also specifically added a paragraph to say that no further extensions would be considered under any circumstances.

"The athletics season is only now getting going, I accept that fully, but this situation was flagged to everyone three years ago. All the athletes knew long ago how and when they needed to qualify."

Under the guidelines of the IAAF, the world governing body of athletics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) can still accept entries up until next Monday, August 9th. Hickey, though, rightfully claims that it's the national Olympic committee which has the final say in selection criteria.

"The IAAF has no function in the controlling and function of the Olympic Games," he said. "Under the rules and statutes of the IOC we are entitled to have a cut-off date when we want, or even a standard higher than the IAAF.

"But I'll go straight to the bottom line. We are going by our last statement, which said entries close on July 20th, and there'll be no extensions of any kind."

It was news McCambridge had been expecting, but which she hoped might not arrive.

"I just can't believe it really," said McCambridge yesterday. "Of course, I'd hoped there might be a chance. And I've gone through so many emotions that I didn't really stop and think 'no, I definitely won't be going'.

"But the whole thing has been very upsetting. And sure, it would mean everything to go to the Olympics, especially after last year, when things didn't go so well. When I got back into it last September the whole focus was on Athens. And the training had gone so well.

"But when they extended the date for two weeks it was no good to me because there weren't any 5,000-metre races on at the time. And it's only now that it's started clicking into place. And isn't this the time you are supposed to be running well?"

McCambridge finds little consolation in the fact that the OCI have been highlighting its qualification criteria for well over a year: "It doesn't seem like they understand athletics at all. They certainly don't seem to understand that the season doesn't get going until July, and that this is the time you want to be peaking.

"And his (Hickey's) comments about not wanting people going over on a holiday really bothered me. We're out there busting a gut and slogging every day, and we're the ones who want to perform the most out there."

Members of her club, Dundrum South Dublin, did consider taking her case to court but McCambridge was considering a more extreme course of action: "At one point this week I was going to sign up for a British passport, because my mother is English. But then, I have the support of everyone in Irish athletics, and I have been getting so much sympathy that I've been very touched by it."

For Eddie McDonagh, her former coach in Dundrum with over 40 years service at the grassroots of Irish athletics, the decision not to add McCambridge to the Olympic team has been infuriating.

"It's just shocking. It shows that the Olympic Council is not a healthy situation because she is one of the most dedicated athletes I've ever met.

"She's put her life and her career on hold to pursue her Olympic dream. She's made a huge sacrifice to get this far only to be rejected by the powers that be. There is a doorway open until August 9th, and it's just a matter for the Olympic Council to use that. Instead they just seem to be imposing their will, like it's some sort of power thing.

"So you have to ask the question do they even care? And then they send so many officials over there, wining and dining in the banquet area and congratulating themselves, and leave behind athletes that have qualified. That is a scandal in itself."

AAI international secretary Liam Hennessy has also stated that the OCI's selection criteria was never to the association's liking: "We have known the situation, and yes it has been clearly communicated to us all the time.

"And we've always communicated that to the athlete with reluctance. And we've never even hinted there might be some hope. But we will always do what we feel is in the best interest of the athlete, and had to keep making the case. It's very frustrating but someone had to stand up to them."