Fagan’s Olympic hopes hit by US ban

THE Olympic qualification hopes of athlete Martin Fagan suffered a major blow last night when he was refused re-entry into the US as he returned from Sunday’s European Cross-country Championships in Toro.

Fagan, who finished seventh in the prestigious event at the weekend, is based at Flagstaff, Arizona, where he is preparing for next month’s Houston Marathon. However his bid to make the marathon at the Beijing Games is now in doubt after being stopped by Homeland Security and put on the next plane back to Ireland.

The 24-year-old Mullingar native said: “I was stopped at Philadelphia Airport on my return to the US. It came as a complete surprise because nobody has ever had any problem with the Visa I have. I have just a month left to the marathon and it is the most important month of my preparation. I need to be working with Greg (McMillan). The climate here is totally different and I am running on my own which is not satisfactory. But I am working with my agent, Ray Flynn, to get it sorted out.”