Former Narre Warren little athlete Jeff Riseley will make his Olympic debut after Athletics Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee agreed to amend its selection criteria for Beijing. 12310 By Marc McGowan
A GROUND-BREAKING decision by the Australian Olympic Committee has paved the way for former Narre Warren little athlete Jeff Riseley to make his Olympic debut in Beijing next month.
The 21-year-old middle-distance runner looked set to miss an Olympic berth after failing to record an A-standard qualifier in the 800m before Athletics Australia’s (AA) cut-off date on 4 July.
But Riseley persisted, switching events to the 1500m and clocking up an A-standard qualifier over that distance in Rome 10 days later.
The International Association of Athletics Federations deadline for Olympic qualification was set at 23 July, giving Riseley’s camp hope that AA could convince the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) to select him.
AA chief executive Danny Corcoran publicly stated last week that it would be unfair to change the rules for one athlete, but, in remarkable circumstances, the AOC submitted an entry form on Riseley’s behalf the following day.
AA and the AOC finally ended their impasse on Friday, rubber stamping Riseley’s selection for Beijing.
Riseley’s manager Nic Bideau has been credited with playing a pivotal role in overturning the initial decision.
“I’m obviously pretty excited – it’s what a lot of people dream of and I’m only 21 and doing it,” Riseley told the News from London.
“There’s still a job to be done and lots of hard work and I need to make sure I can perform there and show I did deserve this.”
Riseley represented Australia for the first time at last year’s world championships in Japan in September.
Not surprisingly, Riseley’s mother Wendy is elated at the AOC’s decision.
“We’re so happy for him … we’ve seen how much work he’s done,” she said.
“All my family and my husband’s family are rapt and Jeffrey has a lot of fans and we’ve been inundated with phone calls from people.”
Riseley flies back to Australia on Friday to train at home for a couple of weeks before linking up with his team-mates and heading to Beijing.
