25 star athletes missing from 2010 Commonwealth Games (Part 2)
The 2010 Commonwealth Games have been controversy struck since the very beginning, and despite an impressive opening ceremony, the stands remain empty as the turn out for the games remains at an all-time low. Due to security concerns and in view of the Mumbai
attacks, many athletes have decided to drop out of the Commonwealth Games due to security concerns.
Some of the star athletes missing from the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are as follows:
9. Caster Semenya (running)
The South African middle distance runner is a world champion who won the gold in the women’s 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships and clocked a time of 1:55:45 in the final. Questions were raised following her victory that she might be suffering from
an intersex condition that would have given her an unfair advantage. However, she was cleared to return to the competition by the IAAF.
10. Paula Radcliffe (long distance runner)
She is an English long distance runner and was voted by the BBC in 2002 as the Sports Personality of the year. She won a gold medal in the World Junior Cross Country Championships, a gold medal in the European Cup in 1998 and 1999, a gold medal in the World
Half Marathon Championships in the year 2000 and 2001 respectively, a gold medal in the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal in the 2005 World Championships in Finland.
11. David Rudisha (long distance runner)
The Kenyan runner is a prodigy in the making after winning a gold medal in the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing. He also set a new African record by posting a time of 1:42:01, beating a 25 year old record. He is one of the top-ten fastest ever
800 m runners.
12. Jessica Ennis (Heptathlon)
The British athlete is the current World and European heptathlon champion along with the world indoor pentathlon champion. In the 2010 World Indoor Championships, she came first in the 60 metre hurdles, 1st in the High jump, 5th in
the Shot put, 3rd in the Long Jump, and 2nd in the 800 metres. In the 2010 European Championships, she secured the first spot in the 100 metre hurdles, 1st in the High jump, 1st in 200 metres, 1st in 800
metres, 4th in Long jump, 6th in Shot put and 8th in Javelin - making her the world Heptathlon champion.
13. Philippe Rizzo (Gymnast)
The Australian gymnast became the first Australian to win a medal at the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships when he managed to win a silver medal in Ghent in 2001. He is also the first Australian athlete ever to win a gold medal at the World Artistic
Gymnastics Championships when he won the horizontal bar in Aarhus in 2006. He is also a multiple Commonwealth Games gold medallist and has represented Australia at two Summer Olympics.
14. Beth Tweddle (Gymnast)
Beth Tweddle is an English gymnast who is the 2009 World Champion on the floor and was the 2006 World Champion and European Champion on uneven bars. She was the first ever gymnast from Britain to win a medal at the World and European Championships, and is
considered to be the most successful British gymnast of all time. She is also a seven-time British National Champion, winning the title from 2001 to 2007.
15. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (Running)
The South African athlete is a middle distance runner and the current World champion in the men’s 800 metres. He had the honour of carrying the flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece for his home country. He also became
the first South African black athlete to be ranked number one in the world. He won a gold medal in the 2009 Berlin World Championships and also won the gold medal in the 2004 Budapest World Indoor Championships. He finished 6th in the Summer Olympics
held in Beijing, China and third in the IAAF World Athletics Final in Greece.
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