Kelly to miss Leopardstown event

ATHLETICS /NEWS ROUND-UP: Keith Kelly has ruled himself out of the Irish team for next month's World Cross Country championships in Dublin. The talented 24-year-old, who finished as second Irishman a year ago in Ostend, has been unable to recover from injury in time for the Leopardstown event on March 23th-24th.

Despite several months of rest and treatment, Kelly's lower-back injury persisted and he has decided to skip the remainder of the cross country season and concentrate on being fit for the summer. He was 24th in Ostend and his absence will be a major dent in the Irish hopes of a strong team placing.

Kelly hopes to start back training this week after a six-week break but that won't be sufficient time to get him to Leopardstown. "I will focus now on trying to get right so I can have a crack at the European outdoors in the summer," he said.

Kelly's trouble began last October with a sharp pain in his lower back and by December he was forced to stop running. The injury was eventually identified as a pelvic rotation and although not particularly serious, it can cause problems when an athlete is running over 100 miles a week.

"After Christmas I went to Gerard Hartmann in Limerick for a week and he also noted all the problems I had were stemming from a weak pelvis. His treatment was excellent and he gave me a list of exercises to do to strengthen the areas around my pelvis."

Reigning world cross country champion Paula Radcliffe, who was pre-selected, will be joined in the British senior women's 8km team by Liz Yelling, Jenny Brown, Angela Mudge, Kathy Butler and Hayley Yellin.

The US trials for Leopardstown were held at the weekend and set to lead the women's short-course team is Regina Jacobs. Although a few months short of her 39th birthday, Jacobs comfortably regained the 4km title and is on course for a possible renewal of her not-so-friendly rivalry with Sonia O'Sullivan.

Jacobs has been attracting attention in sections of the US media over her cool response to any questioning on drugs in sport. There has also been mixed response to calls from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chairman Richard Pound to expel the US athletics body because of their refusal to release names of athletes who test positive for drugs.

The IAAF have said the matter is unlikely to bring about a suspension but it would be up to their council to decide in April. US officials have said rules on confidentiality left them unable to provide the name of a US athlete who failed a drugs test before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but still competed at the Games.