Cragg called into Irish team
Saturday November 28 2009
ALISTAIR Cragg will be part of the Irish mens' team for the upcoming European Cross-Country Championships at Santry.
As he hadn't raced since last summer's World Championships, Irish manager Ann Keenan-Buckley had asked him to prove his form and she is satisfied by his 13:45 time in a 5km Thanksgiving road-race in California this week. "Alistair is an excellent athlete who has outstanding ability and his performance showed that, which is why he will be lining out in Santry," Keenan-Buckley said yesterday.
Cragg's inclusion means that Raheny Shamrock's Mick Clohisey, fourth in last weekend's inter-counties, will now be the team's first reserve.
One bit of good news for the Irish senior women is that Holland's Kenyan-born defending champion Hilda Kibet has confirmed that she will not be racing in Santry on December 13. Kibet won in Brussels last year when Ireland's Mary Cullen was fourth.
Spain's Marta Dominguez, who won the race in 2007 and won the steeplechase in last summer's World Championships, may yet also be absent as the Spanish federation recently hinted that she may choose to focus all her energies on next summer's European Championships in Barcelona.
Meanwhile Pat Hickey was unanimously re-elected President of the European Olympic Committee at its general assembly in Lisbon yesterday.
Hickey had no problem securing another four-year term as the head of the European body until the end of 2013, during which the continent will host the Olympics in London 2012.
- Cliona Foley
Irish Independent
