The Commonwealth Games was robbed of two of its biggest drawcards on Tuesday when Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe and English marathon world champion Paula Radcliffe both pulled out.
Thorpe told a news conference in Sydney that he had succumbed to a mystery illness that had plagued him for almost a month before Radcliffe’s husband released a statement in Britain saying she was withdrawing because of a bruised foot.
The absence of the duo is certain to have come as a massive blow to the competition organisers with Queen Elizabeth II due to the open the March 15-26 Games in Melbourne in a little over a week.
A host of big-name athletes had already withdrew, including Australia’s long-distance swimmer Grant Hackett and England’s dual Olympic-champion Kelly Holmes, who announced her retirement last year after previously saying she planned to compete.
Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas and Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, winners of the blue-riband sprints at Manchester in 2002, are also expected to announce their withdrawals in the coming days.
Canada’s former Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield is also out, as is New Zealand rugby winger Doug Howlett, while Kirsty Coventry, the outstanding swimmer at last year’s world championships in Montreal, is unable to compete because of Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth.
Biggest Shock
The high-profile withdrawals followed an announcement by organisers earlier in the week that they still had almost 400,000 tickets to sell despite the cost of the Games blowing out to A$1.1 billion (US$827 million) from the original budget of A$697 million.
Thorpe’s withdrawal was the biggest shock.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist is a sporting superstar in Australia and news of his announcement was broadcast live on national television.
“It was difficult coming to terms with not being able to compete but in the end it was the only decision I could come to,” Thorpe explained.
Radcliffe won the 5,000m gold medal at the last Commonwealth Games in Manchester and was entered for the 10,000m in Melbourne but injured her foot when she hit a rock in training.
“It has reared up again and we feel it would be too much of an unnecessary risk, to compete in Melbourne,” her husband and manager Gary Lough said.
By Julian Linden, Reuters
