Big names missing from world's richest run<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): China's great Ma's Army talents and Morocco
\nOlympic gold medalist Khalid Skah have opted to miss the
\nexcitement of this Sunday's 10-kilometer road race, leaving
\ndefending champion Addis Abebe the lone star in the world's
\nrichest run.<\/p>\n
Executive chairman of the committee, B. Chaidir, said
\nyesterday the Chinese women's trio of Wang Junxia, Qu Yunxia and
\nMa Ningning withdrew from the race for undisclosed reasons.<\/p>\n
\"We are very sorry that the three runners failed to make their
\ndebut at the road race,\" Chaidir quoted Huang Zhi, secretary
\ngeneral of the Chinese track and field association, as saying.<\/p>\n
Wang, who won the 1994 Jesse Owens Award for her 10,000-meter
\nand 3,000-meter world records set last year, 3,000-meter world
\nchampion Qu and Ma registered themselves for the seventh edition
\nof the annual event in February. They were scheduled to arrive
\nhere on Wednesday evening,<\/p>\n
Chaidir said that Huang was also sorry to announce the
\nwithdrawal at the last minute.<\/p>\n
\"We are very disappointed that the Chinese runners won't
\ncome,\" Chaidir said. He added that the organizers had earlier
\nasked for clarification of the cancellation from the Chinese
\ntrack and field body after seeing that Wang and company did not
\nturn up on Wednesday as scheduled.<\/p>\n
Wang, who holds the world 10,000-meter track record of 29
\nminutes and 31.78 seconds is expected to break England's
\nElizabeth McColgan's five-year-old road race best time of 30:38
\non Sunday. The organizers offered a whopping US$500,000 in cash
\nfor either a men's or women's runner who can set a new world
\nrecord.<\/p>\n
Tournament promoter Ray Flynn said that the 10,000-meter
\nOlympic gold medalist Skah is nursing a leg injury he suffered
\njust one day before his departure for the race.<\/p>\n
\"I heard of Skah's plan to miss the race on Tuesday, but I had
\nto confirm his withdrawal with his wife,\" Flynn said.<\/p>\n
Skah was the only other favorite to win the winner's $25,000
\ncash prize and the enormous bonus sum besides Abebe. Skah beat
\nAbebe in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. (amd)<\/p>",
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