Injuries force McKee and Coman out of men’s team

PAUL McKEE and Tomas Coman have withdrawn from the Irish men’s team for this weekend’s European Cup match in Aarhous.

McKee, the world indoor bronze medallist who impressed on his seasonal outdoor debut in a high class 400m field in Seville, withdrew from the squad yesterday with a hamstring injury.

After an 18 month lay-off, Coman made a spectacular return to competitive athletics in Cottbus where he finished second to Jamaica’s Danny McFarlane and ahead of European champion Ingo Schultz. But he has been forced out due to a thigh strain.

McKee’s place in the individual 400m will be taken by either David McCarthy, who finished fifth in the 400m final at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, or Rob Daly. David Gillick has been drafted in to strengthen the 4 x 400m squad.

The men compete against Austria, Lithuania, Iceland, Luxembourg, Latvia, Switzerland and the Athletic Association of the Small states of Europe in Aarhus, while the women will be in action against Belgium, Sweden, Belarus, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary at Lappeenranta.

On the domestic front, the action on Saturday will be at Tullamore where the KitKat Irish Schools inter-provincial will feature the top under-17 athletes in the country.