Annalise Murphy to be nominated for Olympic selection
by Treasa Cox 13 Jun 2020 14:41 BST
Olympic Silver medallist Annalise Murphy and fellow Toyko contender Aoife Hopkins in action on Dun Laoghaire Harbour © David Branigan / Oceansport
Irish Sailing has confirmed that Rio 2016 silver medallist Annalise Murphy will be nominated in the Laser Radial to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Her nomination will now be put forward to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for ratification.
Murphy secured the Laser Radial nomination after the conclusion of the trials in which her three teammates Aoife Hopkins, Aisling Keller and Eve McMahon also competed.
There were originally three scheduled trial regattas:
- ILCA Laser Radial Women's World Championship, Melbourne, Australia (21-28 February 2020)
- Trofeo Princesa Sofia, Palma, Spain (28 March - 4 April 2020)
- Hyéres Regatta, France (18 - 25 April 2020)
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, both the Palma and Hyéres events were cancelled, and the 2020 Olympics postponed until 2021. Under the selection process, if one or more of the trial regattas are cancelled, then the person with the best performance in the completed trial regattas secures the Laser Radial nomination. Annalise Murphy finished the ILCA Laser Radial Women's World Championship in 12th place, Aoife Hopkins finished in 40th, Aisling Keller 63rd, and Eve McMahon 78th.
While uncertainty still exists as to the future international sailing calendar it is planned that the team continue to train at home in the Dun Laoghaire Performance HQ. Aoife Hopkins is a senior carded athlete who remains a key member of the training group along with Academy sailor Eve McMahon. Aisling Keller has decided to return to college.
James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing Performance Director commented "Annalise's performance in the 2020 Worlds made her a clear favourite to win the scheduled trials. By nominating her now the Irish Sailing Board have ensured that team preparations can move focus to the Olympics rather than preparing for domestic trials". He went on to say: "for sure this is tough on Aoife but she is still very young and can benefit massively from team training planned in Tokyo".