Coghlan Attacked by Dog, May Miss U.S. Tour

Eamonn Coghlan, world indoor mile record-holder, said he could miss the entire U.S. indoor tour after being attacked by a dog while on a training run in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland.

The 34-year-old runner, who now lives in Rye, N.Y., was vacationing in his native country when he was attacked Saturday.

Coghlan sustained a broken hand and tissue damage to his calves and thighs after two teen-agers set their dog on him.

Coghlan, who needed surgery to repair the wounds, said: “I won’t know the extent of the damage for at least 24 hours. But there is severe tissue damage. If I miss 10 days’ training, it will mean an end to the U.S. indoor tour.”

Coghlan said he was attacked by a terrier when he asked two boys to stop shouting foul language at a woman and her child who were waiting for a bus.

He said that he challenged the two teen-agers, who were on bikes, by pretending to pick up speed as if to chase them. “Then they set the dog on me,” he said.

“While I was trying to ward off the animal, I broke my left hand. The dog took two chunks, literally, out of my calf muscle and refused to let go.”

Heavily bandaged on both legs, Coghlan said he was “in tatters and very dejected” over the incident.

Coghlan, whose indoor mile record is 3:49.79, is scheduled to run in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden Jan. 30. Coghlan has won the Wanamaker Mile six times and the Sunkist Mile in Los Angeles four times.

Coghlan, who won the world 5,000 meters title at Helsinki in 1983, is the only man to break 3:50 in the indoor mile.