The Electronic Telegraph Friday 27 July 2001 Tom Knight KATHARINE MERRY'S dreams of winning gold at the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, were shattered yesterday when she was forced to end her season because of an Achilles tendon injury. Instead of preparing to join the rest of the British team in Canada, the 26-year-old Olympic bronze medallist found herself facing up to six months of treatment for an injury which flared up after her 400 metres race at the British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Not surprisingly, Merry was deeply upset at having to make what she called the "heartbreaking decision" to withdraw. Her coach, Linford Christie, who transformed Merry from a promising 200m runner to a potential world-beater, said he was "devastated". Merry's withdrawal came only 24 hours after Darren Campbell, the sprinter he coached to an Olympic silver medal in the 200m, had announced that he was calling a halt to his season after failing to recover from a hamstring injury. Christie said: "This is life. We're athletes and this sort of thing happens. But we have to be strong. I'm devastated, but what can I do? "Katharine's trained so hard this year and the results were showing that. There's no doubt in my mind that she was on her way to gold." Cathy Freeman, the Olympic champion, who is taking a year out of the sport, said she was shocked. She added: "Katharine missing the World Championships leaves a bit of a gap in the 400m because on form she was the hot favourite. "It's a question of priority. If she wants to stay healthy for a long, long running career then pulling out of the World Championships may well be the best thing for her." Merry was going to Edmonton as the outstanding favourite in the 400m. She twice broke the British record indoors and, in Athens, in only her second race of the summer, came within a couple of strides of breaking Kathy Cook's 17-year-old British record. In the stadium which will host the 2004 Olympic Games, Merry finished 10m cl ear of a world-class field in 49.59sec, which remains the fastest time in the world this year. Merry had set herself a high standard and the rest of the world's quarter-milers knew she would be the one to beat in Edmonton. But she first ran into problems when a viral infection forced her to miss several races, including the AAA Championships and Trials in Birmingham. Even so, her victory at Crystal Palace in 50.67sec suggested all was well. But the season which had started so well was about to take an unexpected turn. In a statement issued through Christie's management company, Nuff Respect, she said her Achilles tendon was painful before Sunday's race. She went on: "After my victory at Crystal Palace, I had an MRI scan which indicated a degeneration in my Achilles. As a result I have been warned that if I had run three rounds in Edmonton I would have run the risk of rupturing the Achilles. "As a result of this advice, and having trained only twice in five weeks due to illness, I have taken the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the championships." Merry was an immensely talented junior, who made her international debut as a 14-year-old. In six years as a British junior international, she won 11 national age-group titles and in 1993 was the European junior champion at 200m. But she is no stranger to injury. Her transition to the senior ranks was dogged by leg and back injuries. It was thought that in the 400m she had finally found the right event and she signalled her arrival on the big stage with fifth place at the 1999 World Championships in Seville. Her bronze medal in Sydney, which came with her first sub-50sec, confirmed her status as an athlete with the strength and speed to win major titles. With her success, however, has also come the sort of problems associated with athletes who train hard. She missed some of last summer with a virus and was always aware that the search for supreme fitness had a flipside. Ironically, in a column for Telegraph Sport, written after her race in Athens, she said: "I've never been favourite for anything before. It's quite scary to be running so fast, so soon in the season. I know the other girls will bring their times down and I'll be the target. "You can be sure, however, that I won't take anyone or anything for granted, least of all my own fitness. Getting into exactly the right shape for a major championship means treading a very fine line." Eamonn Condon www.RunnersGoal.com
