Caster Semenya doubtful for Commonwealth Games

Johannesburg: South African world champion 800m runner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi on Tuesday became the latest high-profile athlete to pull out of Commonwealth Games due to injury while compatriot Caster Semenya is also doubtful for the mega event hit hard by star withdrawals.

Semenya, the reigning women's 800m world champion, has been having a back injury and her coach Michael Seme said a decision on her participation in the Games starting October 3 will be taken on Wednesday.

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Mulaudzi, who won men's 800m gold in the Berlin World Championships last year and a silver winner in the 2004 Athens Olympics, has a nagging back injury problem.

Seme said Semenya, a strong medal contender in the Games after her comeback following her controversial gender test during the Berlin World Championships in August 2009, is awaiting medical advice on a back injury before making a call on whether to travel to New Delhi.

"Her back nags her during practice, but we don't know how serious it is," Seme said.

Semenya returned to the track after 11 months in wilderness in the wake of a controversy over her gender that saw Athletics South Africa at loggerheads with the International Athletics Federation.

Commonwealth Games

If Semenya pulls out, the chances for Indian youngster Tintu Luka to win a medal in the Commonwealth Games will brighten as season's two top performer Kenyans Janeth Jepkosgei and Nancy Langat have already puled out.

Jamaican Kenia Sinclair, who won silver in 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and Semenya are the next joint top performers of the season at 1:58.16 behind Jepkosgei and Langat.

Luka comes next to them among Commonwealth athletes participating in the Games at 1:59.17 which she clocked at the IAAF/VTB Continental Cup in Yugoslavia early this month.