National road race champion Matt Brammeier has decided he will not go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a last ditch appeal to his non selection for the London Olympics.
The Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider had appealed his non selection to Cycling Ireland and then the Olympic Council of Ireland but on both occasions did not manage to force any change to the original three-man line-up.
His Cycling Ireland appeal was upheld, with the appeals panel forcing the selectors to re-examine the selection.
However, when they did this they decided to pick the same team anyway, namely Nicolas Roche, Dan Martin and David McCann - with all three riding the road race, McCann also going in the TT and Martyn Irvine riding the omnium on the track.
Brammeier then appealed to the Olympic Council of Ireland, who rejected his case after a hearing in Dublin at the weekend.
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He could have taken the case to CAS, with a fast-track set of hearings being opened before the Games for last minute appeals in all sports and from all nations.
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However, Brammeier has decided against that course of action and said it was now time to wish the team well and get behind them.
In a statement he said he now accepted his “Olympic dream” was over for another four years.
“I am bitterly disappointed with the decision by the OCI not to uphold my appeal against non selection. I have always represented Ireland with pride. The Olympic games is a momentous occasion and I am sure that anyone who has ever competed in any sport at any level will fully understand my decision to pursue this process through to the end.”
“It's a huge shame that politics sometimes gets in the way of sport but now the process is concluded and it is now, time to move on and refocus on the remainder of my season. To this end I would like to thank my manager Andrew McQuaid and everyone involved in my appeal, also I would urge everyone associated with cycling in Ireland to end this debate and join me in getting fully behind the team who have been selected.”
“I wish to offer my full support to Martin, Dan, Nico, and David, and wish them every success in bringing a medal back to Dublin in August. I remain as ever, available for selection to ride for my country and look forward to the privilege of wearing the green jersey of Ireland in major championships in the future.”
He finished off by joking he would see people in Rio, the host city for the 2016 Olympics.
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