OLYMPIC GAMES: The Irish team for next year's Athens Olympics will be "less about size, and more about quality", according to a presentation by the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) in Dublin yesterday.

So far just 33 competitors representing six sports have secured the necessary qualifying standards for Athens, exactly half the number which competed in Sydney, and the opportunities for that to increase ahead of next summer are greatly limited.

Though largely an update on the general preparations for Athens now in operation by both the OCI and Irish Sports Council, the presentation also highlighted the increasingly difficult qualifying standards laid down by the International Olympic Committee. Athletics, for example, will for the first time have a limited quota of 2,000 competitors.

But the OCI has also established more restrictive qualifying criteria of their own for athletics and swimming, with the intention of improving the Irish preparations and subsequent performances in Athens. In the case of athletics, next June 30th has been set as the deadline for qualifying marks, which is several weeks before the normal closing date, and only the more difficult A-standards will be accepted.

OCI president Pat Hickey outlined some of the reasons behind that decision, which he said had been agreed upon over a year ago, and was now known by every athlete that was in a position of chasing down a qualifying standard.

"It was in fact a very easy decision," said Hickey. "The Olympics are the ultimate sporting event for any athlete, and the B-standards are best used when it comes to World or European championships in the particular sport.

"But the fact is a lot of other countries similar to ourselves, such as Denmark, Norway, and Belgium, have set their own qualifications which are even higher than the A-standards. In those cases the athletes have to be in the top third in the world or they don't get to go.

"And I think if you look at the World Championships in Paris last month then you'll find proof that sending athletes on B-standards is not a good idea."

Hickey, however, did not rule out the possibility that an athlete could travel on the B-standard if their case was exceptional.

Although the June 30th deadline is a lot earlier that previous Olympics, the OCI are confident it will create the best prepared Irish team.

"The situation where athletes were qualifying at the last minute was a recipe for disaster," explained OCI honorary secretary Dermot Sherlock. "This way we can ensure that the athletes are ready to prepare in the way that they need to."

The Athens Olympics open on August 13th, and the list of Irish qualifiers to date includes athletics (eight), equestrian (10), rowing (six), sailing (six), cycling (two) and clay pigeon shooting (one).

Mark Carroll, meanwhile, who is one of the eight Irish athletes with A-standard for Athens, continues to be sidelined with injury problems and has announced his withdrawal from the New York marathon on November 2nd because of a hip injury that has curtailed his training.