Fagan back to Olympic training as US visa secured

MARTIN FAGAN, Ireland’s newest Olympic qualifier, has obtained his US visa and is ready to return to the States on Monday.

The Mullingar athlete had his Olympic plans turned upside down when he was refused re-entry to the US after he had represented Ireland at the European cross-country championships.

At that time his sights were on the Houston Marathon in mid-January when he hoped to achieve the qualifying standard for Beijing.

He had to return to Ireland where he was accommodated by Athletics Ireland in the house which they have rented for their athletes on the DCU campus and they also sent him to their warm weather training camp in Portugal.

He subsequently got a place in the Dubai Marathon and his coach Greg McMillan came across from his training base in Arizona to help him in his final preparations.

Despite problems on the day he easily qualified in 13th position and returned to Ireland where he was given a grant of €15,000 by the Olympic Council towards his expenses.

But he returned with a stress fracture in his hip and has been laid low ever since.

“My aim is to return to Providence on Monday,” he said. “I will meet up with my friends there and they also have a new underwater treadmill which I can use for training.

“I have had to rest the injury since the Dubai Marathon but I can get around without any pain and I would like to think that the fracture has healed.

“At the moment, however, I don’t want to put any undue stress on it until I return to Flagstaff where Greg (McMillan) will assess the injury and, pending the result of that, let me know when I can ease back into full training.”

He had hoped go for the qualifying standard for 10,000m at the Stanford meet at the end of April but he is willing to forgo that now.

“I have the standard for the marathon and, at the moment, I am happy with that,” he said. “Maybe I will get the 10k standard at a later date but I am not prepared to take any risks that might jeopardise my Olympic plans.

“I can get around without any pain but if there is a twinge, I notice it. I am just not confident about it and probably won’t be until I see my coach.

“In the meantime I will get back to the US and spend some time with my friends and then return to Flagstaff in a week or so. I am looking forward to that.”