Posted: March 15, 2005

Athletics: Injured, Cragg Withdraws From World Cross Country Championships

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Alistair Cragg, the recently crowned European indoor 3000 meter champion, has withdrawn from this weekend's IAAF World Cross Country Championships due to injury, Athletics Ireland announced today.

"Alistair had missed some training after his back froze after an 8 mile run a few days ago and had been having difficulty even in walking since," a statement released this morning read. "He tried to run yesterday but to no avail. There is no clear diagnosis yet but a pinched nerve is suspected."

Prior to his gold medal-winning performance at the European Indoor Championships in Madrid 10 days ago, Cragg said he was eagerly looking forward to this weekend's competition in St. Etienne/St-Galmier, France where he expected to contest both the short and long course races.

"It's going to be a tough weekend," Cragg said of his anticipated double. "If I get a shot at winning, or chasing the 4-k, I may reevaluate things. But I'm excited about doing the 12-k."

At last year's championships in Brussels, Cragg finished 16th in the short course race.

The 24-year-old South African born Irishman was undefeated in three indoor races on the track this year. In late January, he clocked 7:39.89 in the 3000 meters, the year's fastest performance, at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, where he defeated triple-double world cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele.