Sonia O'Sullivan has been forced to withdraw from next Saturday's Balmoral international road race throughillness.
The Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist was to have taken part in the low-key South of England road relays at Milton Keynes on Saturday inpreparation for next week's showdown in Scotland against world cross country champions Paula Radcliffe and Gete Wami.
But O'Sullivan and her coach Alan Storey reached a decision in midweek that she was not fit enough to compete.
O'Sullivan has been struggling with a chest infection since returning from training in Australia last month.
She tried to compete in March's World Cross Country Championships in Belgium, but dropped out after less than half a mile.
"Sonia's simply not very well," Storey said. "She has not managed to shake off the chest infection which she had when she tried to run in Ostend,and so she has been seeking medical help to resolve the problem."
Storey said he did not think that the illness would necessarily affect O'Sullivan's chances at the track World Championships in the summer.
"If she 's going to go through these sort of traumas, now is as good a time as any, with the cross country season and the indoor season over.
"We will be more concerned, obviously, with every week that passes if Sonia has not been able to get back to proper training."
Reuters