Olympic decision time

Ballina and Newport will be on tender hooks this week in anticipation of whether they will have an Olympian in their midst.

In the coming days we should find out whether Finn McGeever and Sharlene Mawdsley will be on the plane to the Olympic Games Japan after the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) formally sanctions the list of competitors in the swimming and athletics events.

The national governing bodies of Swim Ireland and Athletics Ireland are currently formalising their list of competitors they are putting forward to go to Tokyo, the OFI will rubber-stamp their selections.

Ballina’s McGeever is in a good position to go with the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay swimming team after impressing in the final swim performance meet in Dublin last weekend.

However, Sharlene Mawdsley suffered a blow in her hopes of being on the 4x400m mixed relay team that are going to the Games, after she pulled up in the final of the 400m at the National Track & Field Championships in Santry. The Newport athlete confirmed a minor calf cramp was her issue, one she hopes won’t scuttle her chance of being selected to go to the Olympic Games.

More on page 64.