Sergiu Ciobanu, the Moldovan-born athlete who ran the third fastest marathon time in Ireland this year, has said he's robbed by Athletics Ireland after being overlooked for one of the three Irish spots in the marathon for the Rio Olympics.
Down's Paul Pollock has been picked ahead of Ciobanu despite not running as fast a time in the seventeen month qualification period.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/265538173" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]
Athletics Ireland announced the full marathon team this evening, with Mick Clohisey, Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward selected for the Men's Marathon.
Ciobanu has been listed as the first reserve.
This evening on twitter, Ciobanu's anger was clear. He accused Athletics Ireland of failing to honour the selection criteria.
The selection criteria wasn't respected, I've been robbed
— Sergiu Ciobanu (@sergirun2012) May 23, 2016
Over on the Athletics Ireland facebook page, several commenters have castigated Athletics Ireland for their decision.
One poster offered a contrary view, saying that, as far as he knew, the selection criteria only went as far as to say that athletes only had to beat a certain set time and there was no obligation to pick the three fastest runners.
Ciobanu himself joined that facebook thread, disputing this commenter.
Though born in Moldova, Ciobanu has lived in Ireland for ten years and, as Ian O'Riordan detailed today, has finished as the best Irish finisher in the 2009 and 2014 Dublin Marathons.
He transferred his allegiance to Ireland after marrying Kildare physio Eimear Quinn, with whom he runs physiotherapy clinic in Clonmel.
Quinn left an angry message on Athletics Ireland facebook page, lambasting the decision in very strong terms, kicking off the lengthy thread which Ciobanu would himself comment on - see above.
The convoluted selection criteria for the marathon can be read here. It leaves open the possibility that the three fastest athletes may not be selected, saying that when more than three athletes meet the standard it is at the discretion of the selection panel who they wish to choose.
Considerations outside of time include the 'course speed rating' (allowing for the possibility that it is easier to run faster times at certain tracks). Ciobanu appears confident that even allowing for these other considerations, he should have been selected.
Breege Connolly, Lizzie Lee and Fionnula McCormack have been selected for Ireland in the women's marathon. Read our interview with Cork's Lizzie Lee here.
