Injured Carroll forced to miss track season

MARK CARROLL, laid low with an injury sustained while training at altitude for the Boston Marathon, will miss this year’s track season — including the world championships in Paris — with a planned return to competitive athletics in another marathon a the end of the year.

He picked up the injury while training in Albuquerque last month but it appeared at first to be of a comparatively minor nature.

"In fact I had an MRI scan six weeks ago and it came back negative," he said. "But when I went back training two weeks ago it was obvious there was so much pain there had to be something seriously wrong. I had been back running for two weeks."

It was then he contacted the NCTC in Limerick and the wheels immediately went into motion.

"They could not have been more accommodating," he said. "The minute I arrived I was met by Dr Michael Griffin who took me straight away for a scan."

It was then he discovered the seriousness of the problem. Basically, a ligament had torn away from the bone and taken a piece of bone with it. I don't know why the other scan did not pick it up but it was very difficult to diagnose.

The good news is that I think it is well healed but it is going to take time. The fact it is so deep makes it difficult to treat but everything around it has responded."

He has abandoned all hope of running this summer and is planning a return to competitive athletics.

"I am in good shape from riding the bike and all that, but I am not going to rush back," he said. "Next year is an important year. I may run a marathon in late fall."

He finished sixth in New York last year and, since then he has John Treacy's record in his sights, but admits he might need a faster course.

While he will still run 5,000m and 10,000m on the track, he feels that the marathon is the way to go.

"At my age it is time for career decisions, and from a financial point of view as well as everything else, I feel the marathon is the way to go.

"Let's fact it, when I run for Ireland it costs me money. I still have not been reimbursed for the world cross-country championships in Dublin or Belfast or the European championships. You get tired of that over time. I feel you should not have to pay to represent your country."

World record holder Gillian O'Sullivan will lead a three-strong Irish team to Italy today for Thursday's Grand Prix Walking Race the third in the series. And following her demolition of a star-studded field in Mexico last month she will go to the line as one of the favourites. This time around she will again be joined by Olive Loughnane.

Robert Heffernan will compete in the men's race.

With as many as six world ranked walkers in the field, the Italians will be hoping to keep the prize at home but their current leader Elisabetta Perrone could only finish sixth in Tijuana when Gillian O'Sullivan literally destroyed the field.

Heffernan made his 20k debut in Portugal but it was a frustrating experience. He was fourth when he was disqualified, a huge disappointment for the Corkman who had only suffered a disqualification once before and that was as a 19-year-old when he was serving his apprenticeship.

Hopefully, San Giovanni should get all frustrations out of his system.

Their next assignment will be as part of an Irish team for the European Cup in Cheboksary a 14-hour train trip from Moscow in May.