 Paul Brizzel competed in the 200m in the Athens Olympics |
Ballymena sprinter Paul Brizzel has been named in the Irish team for next month's European Indoor Championships in Madrid. Brizzel achieved the qualifying time of 21.40 when he clocked 21.32 in Belgium on Sunday.
He will join Paul Hession in the 200m in the Spanish capital from 4-6 March.
Athletics Ireland have named an initial nine-strong squad for the championships. Alistair Cragg will be the main medal hope in the 3,000m.
Cragg, the only European to qualify for last year's Olympic 5,000m final in Athens, currently leads the world rankings with his recent 7:39.89 winning performance over Kenenisa Bekele in Boston.
David Gillick, whose season's best of 47.28 sees him ranked eighth in Europe, David McCarthy and Robert Daly have been named in the 400m.
Ailis McSweeney (60m), Derval O'Rourke (60H) and high jumper Deirdre Ryan are also included in the team.
Peter Coghlan, Emily Maher, Adrian O'Dwyer, Jer O'Donoghue could be added to the Irish squad if they manage to achieve qualifying standards in the next couple of weeks.
The selectors are also hoping that 2000 gold medallist Mark Carroll may take up an invitation to join Cragg in the 3000m.
Irish team:
Ailis McSweeney 60m
Derval O'Rourke 60m Hurdles
Deirdre Ryan High Jump
Paul Hession 200m
Paul Brizzel 200m
David Gillick 400m
David McCarthy 400m
Robert Daly 400m
Alistair Cragg 3000m
MMIX
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