Riseley a late inclusion to Olympic team

Young 1500m runner Jeff Riseley has been added to the Australian athletics team for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

The Australian Olympic Committee used its discretion to pick the 21-year-old runner who recorded an A qualifier time last weekend in Rome - just outside the qualification timeframe.

Athletics Australia was unable to nominate Riseley due to the time constraints in their selection policy but recommended the runner to the AOC following his performance in Italy.

"Riseley is an outstanding prospect and, having run the IAAF qualifying time and met the other performance requirements of the AA Nomination Criteria deserves his place in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing," said AOC director of sport Fiona de Jong.

Athletics Australia chief executive Danny Corcoran said: "We would have taken great pleasure in nominating Jeff but unfortunately we could not do so under the existing policy.

"We are in this instance delighted that the AOC has been able to exercise their discretion in this matter".