Posted: June 25, 2005

Athletics: Ottey Out For Season

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

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LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Seven-time Olympian Merlene Ottey will miss the entire 2005 season with injury, ending her bid for a record eighth world championships appearance.

The 45-year-old Jamaican-born sprinter who now competes for Slovenia is to undergo surgery next week to repair a minor ligament tear in her upper left thigh, an injury sustained during the 200 meter semi-finals of last year’s Olympic Games, her record seventh Olympic appearance. Ottey sustained a similar injury after the 2000 Olympic Games, but on her right side.

Typically, an athlete can resume training four weeks after such a procedure, said Ottey’s coach, Srdjan Djordjevic, but added that the sprinter has decided to forego the 2005 season to prepare more adequately for 2006.

With 14 medals, Ottey is the most heavily decorated athlete in the history of the world championships. In Olympic competition, she has collected eight medals, also a record. Displaying unparalled longevity, Ottey has been a world class sprinter since her student days at the University of Nebraska in 1980, when she clocked 11.36 and 22.20 bests. Her personal bests of 10.74 and 21.64 date back to 1996 and 1991 respectively. In the 100, only three other women have run faster, while in the 200, Ottey is the third fastest ever.

Last year, at age 44, Ottey ran 11.09 in the 100 and 22.72 in the 200, both national records for her adopted country, where she has lived permanently since 1999.

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