 Anna Boyle retained her Irish 100m title on Sunday |
Anna Boyle, Paul McKee and Paul Brizzel have been included in a 29-strong Ireland team for next month's European Athletics Championship in Gothenburg. Boyle, who retained her Irish 100m title on Sunday, will run the 100m and the relay and may run the 200m if Ciara Sheehy is unable to prove her fitness.
Irish champion Brizzel is picked for the 200m while McKee will compete in the 400m and the 4x400m relay.
The team includes main medal hope Alistair Cragg who will run the 5000m.
However, Cragg's build-up to the Championships has not gone smoothly with a drop-out in a recent 5000m outing in Paris followed by a surprise defeat by Liam Reale in the 1500m at the Irish Championships on Sunday.
Cragg does top the European rankings with a 13:08.97 clocking early last month but, from a position where he looked certain to go into the Gothenburg Championships as favourite, he is now under something of a cloud.
This year's world indoor hurdles champion Derval O'Rourke will be expected to claim a place in the final of the 100H but the most impressive Irish female athlete at the moment is Joanne Cuddihy who clocked a superb 51.28 for 400m at Santry at the weekend.
Cuddihy looks capable of going under 51 seconds in Gothenburg and could be an outside bet for a medal.
Irish champion David Gillick and Paul McKee will be aiming to qualify for the 400m final while steeplechaser Roisin McGettigan is currently ranked seventh fastest European this year in her event.
Like Ciara Sheehy, 200m men Paul Hession and Gary Ryan are selected subject to proving their fitness.
The Irish squad, which will be led by team manager Patsy McGonagle, will depart for Gothenburg in two contingents on 4 and 6 August.
Ireland team
Men:
200m: P Hession, P Brizzel, G Ryan
400m: D Gillick, P McKee, D McCarthy
800m: D Campbell, T Chamney
1500m: J Nolan, L Reale
5000m: A Cragg, M Fagan
10,000m: M Fagan
4x400m: Gillick, McKee, McCarthy, A Burke, B Doyle, B Murphy
Women:
100m: A Boyle, E Maher
200m: C Sheehy, J Cuddihy, E Maher, A Boyle
400m: J Cuddihy, M Carey
1500m: A Byrne
5000m: M Davenport, M Cullen
10,000m: M Davenport
3000m chase: R McGettigan, F Britton
100H: D O'Rourke
400H: M Carey
High Jump: D Ryan
Hammer: E O'Keeffe
4x100m: A Boyle, C Sheehy, J Cuddihy, D O'Rourke, E Maher, A McSweeney
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