Keller's Olympic dream on hold
By Shane Brophy
Aisling Keller's ambition of being an Olympian has been deferred following the postponement of this summers Olympic Games in Japan
A meeting of the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday confirmed the postponement follwing mounting pressure from national federations, including Ireland.
“To be honest if the safety of the athletes isn't possible it can't go ahead this summer,” said Aisling Keller this week who was aiming to compete in the Sailing event for Ireland.
“It's quite difficult as there are so many athletes all over the world that aren't able to train. I have heard of athletes in Italy who are breaking quarantine to try and train so it's not fair that way.
“Also only fifty percent of the qualification spots have been allocated so how are they going to fill the remainder such as in athletics where they have to achieve a time in competition to qualify.
“In the Olympic year, most qualification competitions end in May so it doesn't look like there will be any competitions taking place by then.”
Aisling, a member of Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer, earned a spot for Ireland in the Games following her performance in the World Championships in Japan last year but was due to take part in two qualification events in Spain and France in the coming weeks in her attempts to be the sailer to take charge of that boat in the Olympics.
However, those events have been called off and the last couple of weeks have seen her, along with Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins who are challenging her for that spot, in limbo as to what might happen.
The government restrictions in place since 12th March have impacted her ability to train, despite it being an individual event on the water.
“We are not allowed to take part in organised sailing but we can go out on the boat by ourselves,” Aisling revealed.
“We can't train with a team or with a coaching or anything like that.
“My situation is better than other peoples so I can't complain too much.”