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London 2012: Introducing... Aileen Morrison

The driven Derry woman is today’s first entry to our athlete profiles.

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Event: Triathlon

Who is she? The Derry native is Ireland’s second female triathlete to ever qualify for the Olympic games.

Road to London: Triathlon qualifications is based on ranking points won over a two year period. Morrison has been certain of her top 55 placing for some time now. In fact, following her third place in Madrid, she found herself ranked in the world’s top 10.

What she says about herself: “There is no way I can’t realistically finish inside the top 15. I’d really like a top 10 finish that would be really good. Now in saying that, I have medals on the World Series – which shows that I can compete when I’m at my best.”

What they’re saying on the internet: “Her swimming seemed to have much improved towards the end of the summer, she was coming out in the top 5 in the two races I saw her in. Yokohama had a good field with uber swimmer Lucy Hall winning the swim with Jenkins close behind and then Morrison” catweazle (Boards.ie).

Medal chances: Outside of boxing, Morrison perhaps carries the greatest expectation. She has been mixing it with the world’s best for the past two years and only appears to be improving. A top 10 finish is her goal from the outset, but a good clean interchange will see her pushing for the podium. Three events and Jimmy is giving a mark for each of them.

On the Twitter: You can find her @AileenMorr. You may also have seen her on RTE’s London Calling series. If you did, you won’t have missed her lovely ‘wee Mammy’.

If you meet her in a bar, ask her about... whatever you do, don’t ask her how she get into triathlons. Instead, ask what her favourite food might be or what has been her favourite destination on the circuit.

If she was a YouTube video, she would be: As a late-comer to the sport, Morrison is coming in to the Olympics as a dangerous underdog. And -if the movies have thought us anything – underdogs can only win with the help of training montage. So…

YouTube credit: Erik393

Read more of TheScore’s “London 2012: Introducing” series here >

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