September 03 Rieti, Italy
It was a case of no joy for Ireland`s main 800m hopes in their bid to gain entry to the olympics when , in Rieti they failed to post fast enough times. Daniel Caulfield had been hit by food poisoning in Rovereto which had caused him to miss the race but the fact that all three Irish could only find a lane in the B race meant that they were up against it from the start.Caulfield was, as usual the first Irish man across the line but it didn`t matter as his time of 1:47.91 was only good enough for 11th overall and 3rd in the B race.Darren Dineen`s intense racing program finally took its toll as he only managed 1.48.27.That time was good enough for 5th in the B with Niall Dunne just behind in 1.48.49.With only 6 in the race excluding the pacemaker it would have bee almost impossible for any of the athletes in the B race to run an A standard and in the end the winner, MohamedYagoub Babiker from Sudan, crossed the line in 1.47.45.
The time through the bell was fast with Italian pacer, Alessendro Battinelli taking them through in 51.26 but the pace then dropped off severely with the last lap run in poor 56 seconds.A second pacer would have been better for the runners but being a B race that luxury was not afforded to our lads.
The A race was won in 1.43.74 by local man Andrea Longo.All 8 finishers went under 1.46.00 as pacemaker Luka Kipkoech went through in an incredible 49.23 for 400m.If only Dnaiel or Darren had been present it might have been a different story.
With only until September 7 to find the time many believe that this race has finished their chances of getting the time.After many fine runs this year all three have made their country proud with their exploits.With Dave Mathews due to run in Sydney reports are good that his times in training are impressive.
Andrew Walker was due to run in the 1500m but pulled out for an unknown reason.
Darren Dineen showed the effects of his super-intense racing schedule that saw him run 6 races in 5 weeks with a slow run in Rieti
Niall Dunne capped off an excellant season for him with another consistant run