Champion Coman holds off on Helsinki
Tomas Coman (Moycarkey Coolroo) may have left the selectors with something of a headache after he returned to retain his 400m title in what was only his second race of the season.
The Tipp man retained his title in 46.48 seconds from the national record holder, Paul McKee (Beechmount Harriers), 46.99secs, and Rob Daly (DSD), 47.26secs, with David McCarthy, also recovering from injury, fourth in 47.28secs.
David Gillick, the European indoor champion, missed the championships through injury and it now appears that he won’t be available for selection.
Should Gillick be available for Helsinki the selectors would still have to opt for Coman who has a faster time than the Dubliner and fulfilled all the criteria by competing in the national championships.
But Coman is undecided and said after yesterday’s victory that he would not make up his mind whether or not he will make himself available until later in the week.
“This was only my second race of the season,” he said. “I have missed so much time with injuries to my Achilles and then my calf.
“Having said that, I felt good today. I planned my race around the middle section and that’s where I won it. Obviously I am delighted but I would not like to commit myself to the world championships at this stage. I think I would be looking for something else.
“I also have the world student games coming up and will consider that but I won’t make up my mind until later in the week.”
There was a fair sprinkling of Helsinki hopefuls on parade yesterday but James Nolan was not one of them. He ran the qualifying time in Heusden on Saturday night when he finished sixth in the 1,500m in 3:37.78.
He had been excused from the heats of the 1,500m at the national championships but withdrew from yesterday’s final with an Achilles tendon problem.
Victory in the 1,500m went to Gary Murray (St. Malachy’s) who was also excused from the preliminaries after competing in the 5,000m in Crystal Palace on Friday night and went on to dominate the race from the start before sprinting clear at the bell to win in 3:47.57 from Richard Jones (Waterford), 3:50.39 and Noel Pollock (Annadale Striders), 3:50.51.
Gary Ryan (Nenagh Olympic), edged out by Paul Brizzell in the 200m final on Saturday, bounced back yesterday to claim his fifth 100m title in 10.37secs from Jer O’Donoghue (Leevale) who went into the final with the fastest time from the heats, and Derry schoolboy, Jason Smyth, who was third in 10.66secs.
“It certainly gives me a boost because things had not been going well for me at all,” the 33 year old Nenagh man said. “I did that off a bad start so I feel that I am going forward now.”
He has been nursing a hip problem for some time now and that has affected his bend running. There was a brief moment when he thought 33 was too old but now that has all changed. This was his fifth title at 100m and he also has four at 200m.
High hurdler, Peter Coghlan, who announced his retirement in the furore over the grants debacle earlier in the year, was back yesterday to claim what was also his ninth title and he is hoping to have another race before committing himself to the world championships in Helsinki.
“I have to accept the fact that I am now operating outside of the system, if that’s what you could call it, so I will keep going,” he said. “I have the support of my family and my friends.
“As regards Helsinki I think 13.6 would be my benchmark so I would like to do that. But, right now, it is full steam ahead with a little proviso,” he added.
Robert Heffernan will return to Poland tomorrow to put the finishing touches to his preparations for the world championships after retaining his 10,000m walk title in 40:32.74.
He had been aiming for 40 minutes and this was close enough to his target on what was a humid Saturday afternoon - humidity at Santry was recorded at 99%.
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