Trim girl is Beijing bound

THE news Michelle Carey had been waiting for finally arrived on Sunday night when it was announced that she would be included in the Irish team travelling to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Carey, whose parents Kevin and Carmel Carey live in Trim, has been selected to represent Ireland in the 400m hurdles in the uniquely designed 'Bird"s Nest" stadium in the Chinese capital where the Games will get underway on Friday, 8th August. Carey wasn"t included in the original Irish squad as she hadn"t attained the A standard for automatic qualification. However, the Olympic Council of Ireland decided to add three athletes with B standards to the squad. The OCI had originally stated that it would only accept those athletes who had attained the A standard. They eventually changed their stance and on Sunday night Carey was drafted into the Irish squad along with Pauline Curley (women"s marathon) and Thomas Chamney (mens 800m). The announcement came much to the delight to Michelle Carey and her parents Kevin and Carmel who have called Trim their home for the past few years. The Careys had previously lived in Dublin. Carey (27) is a qualified primary school teacher and is based in Loughborough University in the English midlands where she has trained along with other Irish athletes such as David Gillick and Joanne Cuddihy. When she finally heard that she was Beijing bound, Carey was understandably delighted to be part of the biggest sporting event in the world. Despite not been included in the original squad a few weeks ago she hadn"t given up hope that she would be selected. 'I"ve lived in England for nine years now but when I go home I go to Trim,' said Carey who took part in the World championships in Osaka last year and narrowly missed out on the semi-finals. 'Now I can get myself back into training because I"ve been racing a lot so I haven"t had much time for training. I"ll go back and do some training over the next 10 days or so and take it from there.' Carey has won seven national titles with her personal best in the 400m hurdles standing at 56.19 and if she surpasses that in the white-heat of Beijing she will surely be pleased. The Irish boxing team departed for Beijing on Tuesday including Darren Sutherland whose parents live in Navan. The boxers will then travel to a training camp in Russia before returning to the Chinese capital.