JOANNA MILLS HAS been added to Ireland’s 4x400m relay squad for the London Olympics after winning an 11th-hour appeal against the decision to omit her.
The Ballymena runner replaces Catriona Cuddihy who was originally named alongside her sister Joanne in Ireland’s six-woman squad for the Games.
A spokesperson for Athletics Ireland confirmed to TheScore.ie that the 19-year-old has been drafted into the squad following an appeal hearing this morning.
It is understood that Cuddihy now has the right to appeal her own exclusion to the Olympic Council of Ireland.
Both Mills and Cuddihy were reserves on the Irish team which competed at last week’s European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, but the young Antrim native was then left out of the travelling party for London after officials brought Jessie Barr in.
Michelle Carey, Claire Bergin and Marian Heffernan were also named in the Irish squad, which was announced on Tuesday.
Mills’ supporters felt that her personal best of 53.89 over 400m made her an obvious candidate for inclusion at the expense of Cuddihy, whose fastest time over the distance is 54.59.
