STRESS FRACTURE FORCES BEKELE TO SHELVE INDOOR SEASON
By Elshadai Negash
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Ethiopia's Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele today ruled himself out of the indoor season and possibly the IAAF World Cross Country Championships next spring due to a stress fracture he sustained in his right ankle.

Speaking from his training base in Addis Ababa, the 26-year old, who practically limped the final kilometres of his last race, the Seven Hills 15 km in Njimegen, Netherlands two weeks ago, said he has now been told by doctors to take a two-month break from training and competition, and then take a slow path to recovery.   This could very well mean that he might need up to four months to return back to competition, which put his participation in the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan next March in serious doubt.

"I cannot be ready for the indoor season," said a disappointed Bekele.  "Even for the cross country, I am not sure.  It will be tough to get back to form after such a lengthy layoff."

Bekele had to be carried by medical assistants after the race in Njimegen.  He spent the first week after his return to Addis Ababa on crunches, and can still barely walk, unable to climb stairs or drive a car.

"Such an injury has never happened to me," the 26-year old said of his latest setback.  "Like every other athlete, I had planned a full indoor season and now this has happened.  I am not happy.  It is really tough not being able to compete and train."