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Fredericks not retiring
22/10/2003 12:02 - (SA)
Windhoek - Star Namibian sprinter Frankie Fredericks on Tuesday refuted reports that he is retiring from international competition, saying he was misquoted by journalists at the All Africa Games in Nigeria.
The 36-year-old three-time Olympic silver medallist - a role model for many aspiring African athletes - was quoted in Abuja last week as saying that he would no longer compete professionally.
"I was shocked," Fredericks said on Tuesday from his home in Namibia. "What I said was that this is definitely my last All Africa games because I am not going to compete at 40."
Fredericks, who finished second in the 200m in Abuja behind Uchenna Emedolu, said he was already setting his sights on the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
"I am not retiring," he said.
Fredericks began his career in 1980. A silver medallist in both sprints at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Fredericks clocked 19.86 at the Atlanta Games four years later, the second fastest mark of all time, which earned him silver in a race in which Michael Johnson clocked the world record of 19.32.
Fredericks also holds the seventh-fastest time over the 100m, 9.86 set in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1996.
He has four world championship medals, four All Africa Games medals, one world indoor championship medal and four medals from the African Championships.
- SAPA
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