From Athletics Northern Ireland Paul Hession and Paul McKee were both inside the previous Irish 300m record as they took second and fourth behind Jeremy Wariner in Ostrava on Thursday. Olympic champion Wariner won in 31.72 at the Golden Spike meet with Hession clocking 32.47 and McKee (33.33) behind Bahamian Nathaniel McKinney (33.01).
Gordon Kennedy set the previous Irish record of 33.36 in 2000 while McKee’s time cut .38 off his PB set in 2005.
Other Irish performances included David Gillick’s second in the 400m.
The twice European Indoor Champion clocked 45.65 as he finished behind Britain’s Martin Rooney (45.32).
Those in Gillick’s wake included third place Jamaican Ricardo Chambers (45.83), sixth finisher, Commonwealth champion John Steeffensen (46.83) and a clearly struggling Tim Benjamin (47.94).
Both Gillick and McKee will now travel on to Namur in Belgium for Saturday’s meeting when they will be part of an Irish 4x400m relay squad attempting to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Gillick has already qualified for the individual 400m in Beijing while McKee is chasing the Olympic standard of 45.55.
Golden Spike Ostrava
300m
1 Jeremy Wariner USA 31.72
2 Paul Hession IRL 32.47
3 Nathaniel McKinney BAH 33.01
4 Paul McKee IRL 33.33