Sprint champions pull out of Commonwealth Games
Duncan Mackay
Thursday February 9, 2006
The Guardian
Kim Collins and Debbie Ferguson, the Commonwealth Games 100 metres champions, are both set to withdraw from the event in Melbourne next month.
Collins, who unexpectedly claimed the title in Manchester four years ago, has only recently resumed training following an injury suffered after he won the bronze medal at last year’s world championships. The St Kitts and Nevis runner, who claimed the world title in Paris in 2003, is training in Jamaica with Britain’s Dwain Chambers, who returns from his two-year drugs ban next month.
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Collins’s withdrawal should boost the medal chances of England’s Jason Gardener, but the field is still expected to include five of the world’s top 10 last year, including the world-record holder Asafa Powell.
Ferguson, who won three gold medals for Bahamas in Manchester, was injured for much of last season and is not ready to defend her titles.