Injured stars ruled out of worlds
Posted Tuesday, 2 August, 2005
A host of leading names have been ruled out of the World Championships, which get underway on Saturday in Helsinki.
Great Britain's absentees include Kelly Holmes, Hayley Tullett, Dean Macey, Chris Rawlinson and Phillips Idowu.
Hicham El Guerrouj ((1,500m/5,000m) and Christian Olsson (triple jump) plus Jan Zelezny (javelin) will also be missing.
World 100m record holder Asafa Powell will skip his individual event while Jana Pittman, Ionela Tirlea-Manolache and Jolanda Ceplak are also out.
Double Olympic champion Holmes abandoned her worlds' bid after failing to shake off the Achilles injury she picked up following her 800m win at the Norwich Union International in Glasgow in early June.
Rawlinson's withdrawal follows a difficult season for Britain's number one 400m hurdler - he suffered a virus in April, had a hernia operation in May and then picked up a foot injury in June.
Triple jumper Idowu's build up has been hampered by a knee niggle and he does not feel fit enough to challenge in Finland.
Tullett - who won 1500m bronze at the last world championships - has struggled with various injuries throughout the season and the Swansea Harrier has heeded medical advice not to compete.
Decathlete Macey withdrew after failing to shake off a right knee injury he sustained during last summer's Athens Olympics.
The 27-year-old hung on to take fourth place in Greece and then underwent surgery to remove scar tissue from the joint six weeks after the Games.
But he began being troubled by the knee again during rehabilitation so decided to drop Helsinki from his schedule in mid June to focus on being right for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March.
Meanwhile, Powell has shelved hopes of adding the world 100m title to his global mark as he continues to recover from a groin injury.
However, he does hope to be fit to fly the flag for Jamaica in the men's 4x100m relay.
Morocco's El Guerrouj is recovering from tonsilitis and Swedish star Olsson is not fit enough after a foot operation.
Former triple world and Olympic javelin champion Czech Zelezny announced his decision to pull out on Monday after aggravating an Achilles injury.
Leading men's pole vaulter - Australian Paul Burgess - has also withdrawn because of a calf injury while a rib injury insures Olympic hammer gold medallist Koji Murofushi, of Japan, will not be in action in Helsinki.
Last week, defending world 400m hurdles champion Pittman - Rawlinson's Australian fiancée - was diagnosed with a hairline stress fracture in a vertebra and has since made the decision to skip the championships rather than risk further injury.
Tirlea-Manolache, also a 400m hurdler, will also not make the trip to Scandinavia because of a back injury.
Meanwhile, fellow Romanian Lidia Simon - the 2001 world marathon champion - misses out after having to go emergency stomach surgery just 10 days before the championships start.
Olympic 800m bronze medallist Ceplak, of Slovenia, has opted not to compete because, although she has recovered from an Achilles injury, she has been left "psychologically exhausted" by the treatment.
MAIN WITHDRAWALS
Great Britain: Kelly Holmes(800m, 1500m), Hayley Tullett (1500m), Chris Rawlinson (400m hurdles), Dean Macey (decathlon), Phillips Idowu (triple jump)
Other: Asafa Powell (100m individual), Jan Zelezny (javelin), Paul Burgess (pole vault), Hicham El Guerrouj (1,500m and 5,000m), Christian Olsson (triple jump), Koji Murofushi (hammer), Jana Pittman and Ionela Tirlea-Manolache (400m hurdles), Jolanda Ceplak (800m), Lidia Simon (marathon)
Story from BBC Sport
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