Trio pull out of Commonwealth Games
A
trio of top British athletes, including world triple jump champion
Phillips Idowu and Olympic 400 metres gold medallist Christine
Ohuruogu, pulled out of the troubled Commonwealth Games in India on
Tuesday.
Idowu’s withdrawal
was based on security concerns while Ohuruogu, plagued by injury
problems this year, suffered cramp in a training session over the
weekend and decided to pull out as a precaution from the event starting
in New Delhi on October 3.
Lisa Dobriskey,
Commonwealth 1,500 metres champion and fourth over the distance at the
European championships in Barcelona last month, also withdrew saying
she had run out of time after struggling with injury earlier in the
season.
Idowu outlined his
worries about attending the Games on his Twitter page, writing: “Sorry
people but I have children to think about.
My safety is more important to them than a medal.”
Organisers have endured a raft of criticism from competing teams over unfinished and unclean athletes’ accommodation.
“I am disappointed
to miss the Commonwealth Games after working so hard to get fit since
my quad injury in June,” Ohuruogu, 26, said in a statement.
“However, with the 2012 Olympic Games on the horizon the last thing an athlete wants to do is risk re-injury to the same muscle.
“It was very
important for me to be cautious in dealing with my previous injury;
although training was progressing well, intense competition over three
days may prove to be more harmful than good and may compromise the long
term functioning of the muscle.”
Dobriskey said she
had been looking forward to competing but had taken medical advice to
rest and focus on winter season training working towards the 2011
indoor season.
“I’m really
disappointed, but I just ran out of time. I want to wish all the best
to the athletes out in Delhi,” she said in a statement.
The Games have already been hit with several high profile
withdrawals, including multiple Olympic champion Usain Bolt and Kenya’s
David Rudisha, who broke the 800 metres world record twice last month.
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