FIONNUALA BRITTON’S OLYMPIC summer just got a little bit busier.
The reigning European Cross Country champion achieved the 10,000m qualifying time yesterday when she finished third at Stanford University’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.
Britton’s time of 31:29.22 was more than 15 seconds quicker than the Olympic “A” Standard of 31:45.00, guaranteeing her place in a second event at London 2012.
The race was won by America’s Betsy Saina in a world-leading time of 31:15.97 with Amy Hastings (31:19.87) in second place.
Britton, 27, was Ireland’s first track qualifier last summer in the 3,000m steeplechase, her specialist event, and then set her sights on the times for the 5,000m and 10,000m as well.
She missed out on the 15:20 qualification time for the 5,000m by eight seconds at the Stanford Invitational earlier this month where she finished fifth.
