Knee ‘niggle’ puts Gillick out of Madrid

DAVID GILLICK withdrew from Saturday’s athletics meeting in Madrid with what was described as a “slight niggle” in his knee.

The two time European indoor 400m champion who set a new Irish record at 45.12 secs a couple of weeks ago has a lane in next Friday night’s Golden Gala in Rome and, with his Olympic preparations now in full flight, he decided to opt out of the Madrid race.

The race was won by Cedric van Branteghem (Belgium) in 45.13 secs which means that Gillick is still on top of the European rankings.