Irish athlete Mark Carroll has rubbished reports that he could switch allegiance to the United States.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/4403355.stm Carroll is among a number of high-profile athletes who have been controversially dropped from the Irish Sports Council's grants scheme. However, the Corkman has reversed his decision not to compete in another championship on the track. "The plan is to represent Ireland in the 10,000m at this year's World Championships," Carroll told BBC Sport. "Running for Ireland means a lot more to me than 11,000 Euro. "I had a very good offer on the table in 1998 to run for the US and I was more of less told that if I became a US citizen that I would get a substantial contract. "But I turned it down then and I have no intention of running for the US. "Like a lot of people, I'm angry about the grants situation but I'm not so angry that I'm going to run for another country. "It appears to me that if you are not viewed as a candidate to win an Olympic medal, that you're going to get dropped (from the grants). "But I feel as a country, we're not really in a position where we can expect a large haul of medals." Despite the grants furore, Carroll is upbeat ahead of his outing in the BUPA road race in Dublin next Saturday. The Florida-based athlete has abandoned plans to run a marathon this spring and after the Dublin race plans to run a 10,000m on the track at Stanford in California on 1 May before competing in the BUPA event in Edinburgh a week later. "I've had a pelvic problem for a couple of years but I got the problem diagnosed by a top specialist in Germany and I'm now having regular treatment and I'm getting stronger and stronger." Carroll believes he is capable of knocking around 25 seconds off his current Irish 10,000 record (27:46.82) this year and his target for 5000m is to run around 13:10. After hopefully competing in the World Championships in Helsinki, the Corkman plans to run a marathon either in the autumn or next spring and the success of the treatment has convinced him that he can make an impact over the 26 mile distance. "I don't want to get to 16 or 18 miles and the pelvis starts to tighten up and my hip starts tightening up and I have to pull out." Carroll acknowledges that medals on the track are "probably out of reach" and his aim now is to "get the most out of the sport for myself that I can". "If John Treacy or whoever is expecting me to come back from Helsinki with a medal then we're not on the same page. "I'm realistic about the guys that are out there. There's some fabulous talent. There are younger men, there are better men and there are men who are taking drugs. "It's unlikely that that I will win a medal. My goals are to break the Irish record for 10,000m and to break it well and to put it in line with my 3K (7:30.36) and 5K (13:03.93) national records. "I've run some good times in my career but to be almost considered that I've failed and that people in authority seem to allude to that, really, really bothers me." ENDS
