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| Eline Berings |
Belgium’s 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships women’s 60m hurdles gold medallist Eline Berings will not defend her title after suffering a quadriceps injury last week.
She made the decision to cancel her Paris plans after a poor run in Gent on Sunday, when she could only clock 8.28, a far cry from her national record of 7.92 she set when winning in Torino two years ago.
'I risked everything at the Flanders Indoor Meeting (in Gent). I felt good overall but I had a lot of pain in the quadriceps. I could not even walk pain-free but I still wanted to bite the bullet and try to do something there for my home crowd. However, the pain was too much and after one hurdle I knew things were just not going to happen,' said Bering.
Further scans on Monday revealed a 15cm muscle tear at the front of her left thigh.
'This makes it impossible for me to run to a maximum speed and the risk is too great. This is painful because I have worked so hard and I felt really good, but this is the harsh reality of professional sport,” added the disappointed 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships 100m gold medallist.
The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held in the French capital Paris at the Palais Omnisport Paris-Bercy from 4-6 March.