'Cruel' injury to Tergat robs London of re-match
Taken from iaaf
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Wednesday 19 April 2006
London, UK - No Paula, and now no Paul for London. The Flora London Marathon announced this morning that Paul Tergat, the World record holder, has withdrawn from Sunday's race (23), due to a calf injury suffered just a week ago.
It is the second major blow to the London organisers, after the women's World record holder and home favourite, Paula Radcliffe, the World champion at the 26-mile 385-yard event, was forced to pull out of the field last month after a run of injuries.
Tergat, 36, had been training hard at home in Kenya until a week ago. But after two hard sessions last Monday week, he awoke the following morning with pain in his calf which even a period of intensive treatment in Italy has failed to resolve.
“I’m so disappointed,” said Tergat, who has raced in London four times but has yet to win the event. “I have worked so hard for it and not to be in the action is cruel.”
“My focus has only been on the race. London is top of my calendar and I was out for something special. It’s very difficult to find this kind of race, so not to be in there at the 11th hour is hard to accept.”
Tergat's absence means the event is robbed of a long-awaited re-match against his long-time Ethiopian track rival, Haile Gebrselassie, who returns to the race on Sunday where he made his marathon debut in 2002.
“It was my dream to race against him again,” Tergat said of Gebrselassie, who he beat in London four years ago but who twice narrowly beat him in sprint finishes for the Olympic 10,000 metres gold medal.
“But to start the race and be forced to stop wouldn’t make sense. We are human and this is the human body. I have to accept it.”
“I call this the race of the century”
With Tergat's best of 2:04:55, set in Berlin in 2003, and Gebrselassie's 2:06:20, set in Amsterdam last autumn, coupled with the presence in the race of Italy's Olympic gold medallist Stefano Baldini (PB: 2:07:29, London 2002) and twice World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (PB: 2:07:02, London 2004), the expectations had been high that the World record might come under serious attack.
“I call this the race of the century because it is not easily that you can find the quality of the athletes like in this race,” said Tergat. “I doubt that it will be possible to match it again.”
Dave Bedford is determined to try: the London race director said that he had already done the deal for Tergat to race in London in 2007. "You'll win it one day, my son," Bedford said, claiming that he had had a vision of Tergat breaking the tape down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.
For his part, Gebrselassie, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Tuesday, said he felt he might well be in better form than when he came close to challenging the World record in Amsterdam. "That race was not easy for me," he said, "Maybe I ran too fast in the first part of the course, and the wind in the last part was especially difficult for me."
But for anyone predicting records on Sunday, Gebrselassie - who has been in record-breaking form on the roads of late, running a 58:55 half marathon in January and a 1:11:37 25km in March** - sounded a note of caution.
"I know the course," he said, "the only problem might be the weather. But I remember 2002, when I was in front for until maybe 40 kilometres..." when you have "all the top athletes here, and maybe not so many pacemakers, nobody wants to be in the front all the way, and you end up watching each other."
Steven Downes for the IAAF
**both times are pending World record ratification by the IAAF
********************************************************************************
Wednesday 19 April 2006
London, UK - No Paula, and now no Paul for London. The Flora London Marathon announced this morning that Paul Tergat, the World record holder, has withdrawn from Sunday's race (23), due to a calf injury suffered just a week ago.
It is the second major blow to the London organisers, after the women's World record holder and home favourite, Paula Radcliffe, the World champion at the 26-mile 385-yard event, was forced to pull out of the field last month after a run of injuries.
Tergat, 36, had been training hard at home in Kenya until a week ago. But after two hard sessions last Monday week, he awoke the following morning with pain in his calf which even a period of intensive treatment in Italy has failed to resolve.
“I’m so disappointed,” said Tergat, who has raced in London four times but has yet to win the event. “I have worked so hard for it and not to be in the action is cruel.”
“My focus has only been on the race. London is top of my calendar and I was out for something special. It’s very difficult to find this kind of race, so not to be in there at the 11th hour is hard to accept.”
Tergat's absence means the event is robbed of a long-awaited re-match against his long-time Ethiopian track rival, Haile Gebrselassie, who returns to the race on Sunday where he made his marathon debut in 2002.
“It was my dream to race against him again,” Tergat said of Gebrselassie, who he beat in London four years ago but who twice narrowly beat him in sprint finishes for the Olympic 10,000 metres gold medal.
“But to start the race and be forced to stop wouldn’t make sense. We are human and this is the human body. I have to accept it.”
“I call this the race of the century”
With Tergat's best of 2:04:55, set in Berlin in 2003, and Gebrselassie's 2:06:20, set in Amsterdam last autumn, coupled with the presence in the race of Italy's Olympic gold medallist Stefano Baldini (PB: 2:07:29, London 2002) and twice World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (PB: 2:07:02, London 2004), the expectations had been high that the World record might come under serious attack.
“I call this the race of the century because it is not easily that you can find the quality of the athletes like in this race,” said Tergat. “I doubt that it will be possible to match it again.”
Dave Bedford is determined to try: the London race director said that he had already done the deal for Tergat to race in London in 2007. "You'll win it one day, my son," Bedford said, claiming that he had had a vision of Tergat breaking the tape down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.
For his part, Gebrselassie, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Tuesday, said he felt he might well be in better form than when he came close to challenging the World record in Amsterdam. "That race was not easy for me," he said, "Maybe I ran too fast in the first part of the course, and the wind in the last part was especially difficult for me."
But for anyone predicting records on Sunday, Gebrselassie - who has been in record-breaking form on the roads of late, running a 58:55 half marathon in January and a 1:11:37 25km in March** - sounded a note of caution.
"I know the course," he said, "the only problem might be the weather. But I remember 2002, when I was in front for until maybe 40 kilometres..." when you have "all the top athletes here, and maybe not so many pacemakers, nobody wants to be in the front all the way, and you end up watching each other."
Steven Downes for the IAAF
**both times are pending World record ratification by the IAAF
posted by pm19 at
9:22 am
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