The Irish Junior team set up camp in Beijing in preparation for the World Junior Athletics Championships in Chaoyang Park, Beijing which will kick off tomorrow Tuesday August 15th. The team travelled out on August 05th and arrived on August 06th in order to adapt to the conditions, and give themselves the best chance possible to compete optimally in the conditions in Beijing. This World Championships will act as a trial run for Athletics Ireland who have already begun preparations for the Olympic Games in 2008. The team have been based at a camp in the North West of Beijing at the Beijing Sport University with the Danish team for the past week. Conditions are hot and steamy at present in Beijing with temperatures up at 30 degrees and 69% humidity - though according to the locals things have cooled down the past two weeks with temperatures as high as 50 degrees recorded in July. The athletes have been given at least 9 days to recover from the jet lag and travel fatigue as well as to adapt to the conditions of extreme humidity and pollution. Daily monitoring of athlete hydration levels, and sweat loss will take place as well as monitoring of fatigue. OCI Physiologist Giles Warrington will join the group at the weekend to further monitor the athletes. A real challenge at this kind of camp is to balance the intensity of preparation for a major competition with relaxation to promote recovery and optimal performance. This very young team of six has only one member born in 1987 Jason Smyth of City of Derry, the other five are still junior next year and Kalyn Sheehan of Ferrybank has two more years at junior level. This competition is much about experience for this talented group. The National Junior Long Jump record holder Kelly Proper who is in excellent form will be hoping for an outdoor personal best having recorded a massive windy leap of 6.32 in recent weeks. Jason Smyth will be hoping to break that national junior record which he equalled in Mannheim in July. EYOF medallists Amy Foster (200m) and David Mc Carthy (800m) will be looking forward to getting stuck in. David experienced this level of competition at the World Youth Championships and his experience will stand to him. Christopher Quinn, a new addition to the team, ran a fantastic race in Gothenburg to qualify for the Championships and is in great form as displayed by his flat 400m performance in the Dublin International. Young Kalyn Sheehan, finalist in EYOF last year is keenly looking forward to the experience. You can’t help feeling there is a lot to come from this talented lot. The level of competition at the World Junior Championships is fierce, our athletes will be well able to stand their ground however this competition is as much about experience as performance for this young group. The competition will get underway tomorrow Tuesday August 15th in Beijing. Athlete biographies can be found below. For further information please contact, Elaine Fitzgerald, Performance Manager, Athletics Ireland just back from Beijing 087-9782478.2006 Irish World Junior Team Biographies Some Photos from the Team Camp