The wait is over for Ireland’s four women’s marathon runners who gained an A standard Olympic Qualifying time and Donegal’s Maria McCambridge is the unlucky athlete to lose out.

The Letterkenny AC runner who represented Ireland at the Athens Olympics in 2004 ran 2.36.37 for the Marathon in Rome in mid-March, just inside the qualifying time of 2.37.00, but three other athletes Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson and Catriona Jennings also bettered the A standard.

The Athletics Ireland Selection committee met this morning to consider the nominations for Olympic selection in the marathon and race walking events. Following the meeting the athletes nominated for selection are:

50km Race Walks:
Rob Heffernan
Brendan Boyce
Colin Griffin

Men’s Marathon
Mark Kenneally

Women’s Marathon
Linda Byrne
Ava Hutchinson
Caitriona Jennings

After the normal right of appeal, as set out in Athletics Ireland nominations policy, nominations will be forwarded to the Olympic Council of Ireland for selection to the 2012 London Olympics Irish Team.