Athletics Ireland has announced that May 21 is D-Day for the four women with A-standards for the Olympics.
Maria McCambridge and Caitriona Jennings are vying with Ava Hutchinson and Linda Byrne for three spots – all have run under 2:37.00.
“We had to address a few issues first, but we are now in a position to cut the original deadline in June, and bring forward our selection date,” Patsy McGonagle said.
“What we’ve agreed is to make May 20th the last day for qualification in the women’s marathon, and progress with our selection immediately after that. That means making our decision on May 21st, and with that informing the athletes, within a day or two. We’ve notified all the relevant athletes of the decision, asking them to agree to that.
“What has to be remembered here is that athletes had already signed up to the original agreement, not just those in the women’s marathon, but also our 50km walkers. There is still the chance we could have more than three qualifiers in that event, as both Colin Griffin and Jamie Costin will compete next weekend, with Rob Heffernan and Brendan Boyce already qualified. But the reality is there aren’t any viable qualifying opportunities after that.”
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