Emma Davis started the year as a reasonably unknown athlete; fast forward a few months and three top ten World Cup finishes later and it looks like she's now heading for Beijing. Like many other athletes in the past - Michelle Dillion, Andrew Johns, Leanda Cave, Liz Blatchford, Paul Amey to name a few top international names - she's decided to go back to her roots and race for the country which a large majority of her family descends from. For most athletes it's not an easy decision to make and she may have occasionally been criticised for her decision. As she explains in our interview it was a decision that took some time to make but, as she looks forward to almost certainly taking part in her first Olympics, she's sure it was the right one.

AE You've been involved in swimming and running from a young age, tell us about your sporting background and how you first got involved with triathlon.

ED When I was younger I reached county level as a runner and swimmer, but at 13 I gave up running for a while as I really wasn't getting on with my coach. At secondary school I started taking part in some biathlons and won the National Schools Championships. I then went on to finish third at nationals and was spotted by Dan Salcedo, who was a talent scout at the time. I got invited to Loughborough for a time trial weekend, where we had to swim 400m and run 1500m. I then got invited to the potential camp weekend. I didn't even have a road bike so I had to take my mountain bike, thankfully someone did lend me a better bike. For a while I was just enjoying the sport and then I went off to Bath (Ed: where she achieved a First in maths...) University and had a bit of a break for the first year while I was getting use to university life. In my second year I joined the Bath triathlon team and was coached by Richard Hobson and then Chris Volley when Richard moved to France.

AE You were part of the TASS scheme and obviously had a good set up at Bath, so what made you decide to change all that and race for Ireland?

ED In 2006 I went over to race the Irish National Championships - a friend had raced there the year before, when it was an ITU points race and said it was a great race to do - it was a very well organised race and everyone was so friendly and it made me think what it would be like to race for Ireland. I was lucky enough to have the choice, it seemed right and I just felt more comfortable and at home racing for Ireland.

AE It's not just you that has moved over to Ireland; Chris Jones, the former World Class Performance women's coach, is now the coach for the Irish team. How has he been supporting you with your training and racing?

ED It's great working with Chris, he's been in the sport for a long time and has a huge amount of knowledge and experience. After the Mooloolaba and New Plymouth World Cups I felt that I wasn't running off the bike as well as I could be, so we sat down and talked about the problem and he realised that I'd been doing too much running off the bike in training, so I've changed that and since then my run has improved a lot. He's also been a great help in putting a plan together for the run up to Beijing, if I do go!

AE Interestingly, had you stayed racing for Great Britain you would now be ranked third Brit in the 2008 Beijing Olympic qualification rankings and could possibly have helped the team in their pursuit of achieving a third slot. Is that something that has crossed your mind?

ED Great Britain have a really strong women's team now, but unfortunately they are running out of time to get a third slot. Have I thought about the fact I could have made a difference? I guess it has crossed my mind once or twice! The way things stand though, if I was still racing for Great Britain the French girls would still be ahead of us. (Ed: and one of those is a certain Jess Harrison...) To be honest it was my decision to race as hard as I have to chase the points, and I'm not sure that if I was still racing for Great Britain that the BTF would have agreed to that. It was really tough to travel and race weekend after weekend, but I'm glad I did it, as it looks like it may have paid off.

AE As mentioned before, a few people have criticised your decision to race for Ireland, so to silence those critics tell us about your Irish connections and why you decided to ask the BTF to release you and allow you to fly the flag for Ireland?

ED Well firstly, my dad is Irish and when my mum and him got together she moved to Ireland to be with him but because of work commitments, several years later, they decided to move back to England. We have a family house there and used to spend all our holidays there with my grandparents, who sadly died this year.

AE What support do you get from the Irish Triathlon Federation?

ED When I switching was difficult as I was in limbo between the BTF and the ITF, so I didn't get anything. The early World Cups I did this year I paid for, but now I have the backing of the Irish sports council so I receive medical support when I'm in Ireland, financial support and help with travel. They also pay for my coach to come to races with me.

AE You had a great end to 2007 with a win at the Mombassa ITU Triathlon African Cup and a really great start to the season with three World Cup top tens, it seems like you're getting stronger every race?

ED Racing is the best way to prepare for racing and it does improve your fitness to a degree, so the fact that I've had to do all the races for the points has given me a lot of experience in a short space of time and made me stronger. My aim for the year was to get a top ten in a World Cup so I'm really happy to have three top tens already.

AE For a newcomer to the World Cup circuit you've raced and traveled a phenomenal amount already this year, you've explained the reason behind this, but was that always part of the plan?

ED I guess ideally you wouldn't plan it like that, but I had to if I was going to have a chance of getting to the Olympics. I've packed and unpacked my bike box so many times that it's already broken, I'm obviously going to have to invest in a really heavy duty one!

AE So it looks like your heading to the Olympics?

ED If they were to do the selection today then yes, I would be there, but there is still one more qualification race, the World Championships in Vancouver, next weekend! My job there will be to finish, and as long as I do that, and don't have any major problems, I will be in.

AE Would you have believed at the beginning of this year that you would be going to the Beijing Olympics?

ED No and I still don't. I don't allow myself to until it's definite and even then I don't think it will really sink in.

AE Some people might have said that you had unrealistic expectations so early on in your triathlon career, so who encouraged you to go for the points?

ED I did, it's been a dream to go to the Olympics for a long time, so Richard and I started to investigate what I needed to do to qualify

AE Richard (Stannard) has been coaching you for the last 18 months, how important has it been to have worked with Richard and how has he helped you improve most?

ED I really owe 99% of my improvement to him this year. I didn't realise how much training you have to do to be an elite athlete and didn't believe in myself enough to commit to serious program. Rich had belief in me and showed me the best way to achieve results and how to construct a great program, it's very hard but it works! Without him I wouldn't be where I am, and I'm very grateful to be able to benefit from his ten years experience in triathlon and many more years in the pool.

AE What are you weaknesses in triathlon?

ED Getting my wetsuit off my right leg - but I'm working on it!

AE And your strengths?

ED Well I guess I'm very determined and don't give up, I'm also pretty good at holding a wheel, which is important in the drafting races.

AE What's your favourite training session?

ED I really enjoy running on the track and love big sessions like 20x400m. I go off a rep time of two minutes and at the moment I'm holding around 75 seconds. I think these sessions are a good way of measuring your improvement and in turn really motivate you when you see your times coming down.

AE Who do you most admire in sport.

ED Haile Gebrselassie; apart from being one of the all time running greats I just love the way he keeps smiling, even when he had to pull out of the London Marathon two years ago with breathing problems he was still smiling.

AE What does the future hold for you beyond Beijing?

ED Obviously 2012 is a major goal, but really at the moment, this is my first year and I'd just like to do a lot more racing.

AE Your goals for 2008 were to make top ten in a World Cup, you've already done that and it looks like in doing so you will qualify for the Olympics, with your goals this year already achieved and we're only in May, you must have had to set yourself some new ones?

ED A top five in a World Cup would be great, but I think that could be quite tough, I'd also like to win a medal at the World Student Games and the European under 23s in September.

Two years have past since she made the defining decision to race for Ireland and a lot has changed for the very, unassuming, but feisty Emma Davis. And as she happily heads off for another weekend of training in Ireland, with Beijing very much on her mind, you can't help but think she's happy and at home with the decision she made to race for her father's home country.