Buck races for City of York and Leeds Metropolitan University

North Yorkshire athlete Richard Buck has suffered a setback in his bid for a place at the Beijing Olympics.

The 21-year-old from Pickering was unable to run for the Great Britain 400m relay team at the Europa Cup in Paris when he picked up a virus.

His coach Geoff Barraclough told BBC Radio York: "Unfortunately he caught a bug and he had to come home."

The illness has delayed Buck's training schedule. "It's going to knock us back a complete week," Barraclough added.

Buck was examined by a doctor when he went down with illness before Sunday's race. The doctor "wouldn't let him run" with such a high temperature and Buck was sent home.

The Grimsby-born City of York runner was due to run at Biberach in Germany next Saturday but he has pulled out of the event.

We've got to start building his strength up again Coach Geoff Barraclough

"We've had to call the race off while he gets right again," Barraclough added. "He just won't be fit enough to run there.

"My plans at the moment are firstly to get him right, which should take until about the end of the week, and then get him back into training again for the Olympic trials which start on 11 July.

"We're not going to be doing any training again until the back end of the week, and then we've got to start building his strength up again."