Other Sport
Report: Olympic champion El Guerrouj pulls out of worlds
By DPA
Jul 25, 2005, 11:02 GMT

Paris - Double Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj will not compete at the upcoming world athletics championships due to a recent illness, the French sports daily L'Equipe reported Monday.

L'Equipe quoted el Guerrouj as saying that "a virus, tonsillitis and a fever...forced me to stop (training) for almost 10 days" and that he would therefore not be in top form at the August 6-14 worlds in Helsinki.

The 30-year-old Moroccan is the four-time reigning 1,500m world champion and the world record holder over the distance. At last year's Olympics in Athens he won a rare 1,500m and 5,000m double gold.