Irish Olympic bosses must decide whether to ratify sprinter Leon Reid’s nomination for the Tokyo Games after he was among Athletics Ireland’s nominees.
Reid, 26, is currently on bail after pleading not guilty to drugs and firearms charges in Bristol on 2 June.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist’s name was a notable omission in an email sent by Athletics Ireland [AAI] to Irish athletes on Tuesday.
However, a subsequent AAI email on Wednesday added Reid to the list.
Reid advanced his claims for Olympic Games selection with a dominant 200m win at the Irish Championships on Sunday.
English-based Reid, who had to self isolate for 10 days to be able to race at Santry, held off his main Irish domestic rival Marcus Lawler, who could only finish third, by clocking a season’s best of 20.79 seconds.
Reid’s 200m personal best is 20.27
Reid produced his personal best of 20.27 in 2018 a few months after winning a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
The bonus world ranking points available at the national championships comfortably kept Reid in the crucial top 56 positions as World Athletics’ qualifying window was about to close on Tuesday.
Reid appeared at Bristol Crown Court via video-link with 17 other defendants on 2 June when he denied eight charges which included allowing crack cocaine to be produced at a premises and having a Glock pistol in his possession.
The athlete was bailed at an initial hearing on 31 March and on 2 June Judge Michael Longman adjourned the case for a further hearing at Bristol Crown Court on 23 July, which is the same day that the Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Japan, although if his case does come to trial it may not happen until next year.
There was speculation that Reid’s legal difficulties could see him fall foul of the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s [OFI] athletes agreement rules but Athletics Ireland does appear to have opted to nominate the sprinter and effectively leave the final decision to the OFI.
Tyrone woman Eilish Flanagan is among several other Irish athletes waiting to see whether her last-ditch performances over the past week have been enough to secure qualification.
After running 9:46.52 to take second behind already-qualified Michelle Finn in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Irish Championships on Saturday, Flanagan, 24, then ran 9:42.71 in Lucerne on Tuesday evening and it appears as though that may be enough to have earned her qualification.
Phil Healy is also set to secure 200m and 400m berths under World Athletics’ Road to Tokyo rankings systems as are 1500m runners Andrew Coscoran and Sarah Healy plus 100m hurdler Sarah Lavin, 20Km walker David Kenny, 200m runner Marcus Lawler and 800m runner Nadia Power.
Indeed Ireland could have a full complement in the women’s 800m with Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner and Georgie Hartigan in line to join Power through the complicated rankings system.
Letterkenny 800m man Mark English’s new Irish 800m record on Tuesday evening saw him joining a list of automatic Irish qualifiers which also includes his fellow Donegal man Brendan Boyce [50km walk], Portaferry woman Ciara Mageean [1500m] and men’s marathon trio Stephen Scullion, Kevin Seaward and Paul Pollock.
