Comrades blow for Harmony
2007-06-13 15:31
Durban - The Harmony athletics team for this years Comrades Marathon have been dealt a severe blow with the withdrawal of defending down run champion, Tatyana Zhirkova, on the eve of the big race.
The 2005 winner, announced on Wednesday from her training camp in Turkey she will not make the trip to South Africa due to a knee injury.
Her South African based manager, Rennel Stemmer, was shocked to hear the news received via e-mail. "She was under a lot of pressure to perform well this year after her disappointing seventh place in this years Two Oceans.
"The team doctor said the injury was mainly due to over training. Because of this she could not do the necessary preparations required to defend her title," he said from Johannesburg.
This withdrawal leaves the race wide open and the mantle of race favourite has come to rest on last years "up run" winner and record holder, Elena Nurgelieva, no doubt supported by her twin sister.
The Comrades will start from outside the Pietermaritzburg town hall at 05:30 on Sunday, the first time the great race will be run on a Sunday following political pressure to move the race away from the Youth Day celebrations.
- SAPA