Gavin Noble joins Aileen Morrison in securing Olympic spot

Enniskillen man Gavin Noble has joined Derry woman Aileen Morrison in securing triathlon qualification for the Olympic Games in London.

Noble was forced out of Sunday's final qualification round in Madrid by a niggle during the run but he had already done enough to qualify.

On Saturday, Morrison finished a superb second at the women's event at the World Triathlon Series meeting.

It was the best ever international performance by an Irish triathlete.

Morrison finished only four seconds behind Swiss winner Nicola Spirig in the final Olympic qualifying event.

The Irish Olympic hopeful came in two seconds ahead of third-placed Barbara Riveros Diaz of Chile.

Morrison was 25 seconds off the pace after the swim but then produced brilliant bike and run performances.

The Irish woman's runner-up finish moves her up to seventh in the current world rankings and follows her second place at last month's World Cup event in Japan.

Morrison finished ahead of British competitors Vicky Holland and Liz Blatchford who took seventh and 10th places more than 40 seconds behind the Irish triathlete.