CP
Monday, August 23, 2010
The 27-year-old Farah, who was born in Somalia but grew up in England, won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres in Barcelona last month at the European championships.
"After an amazing season, two gold medals in the European championships and a new British 5000-metre record, I hope to finish a fantastic summer season with another good performance in India," Farah said in a statement.
Christine Ohuruogu, who won Olympic gold in the 400 in Beijing, was also chosen for the team. Ohuruogu, who missed the European championships after sitting out the trials because of a thigh injury, also won the 400 at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan — just weeks after completing a one-year ban for missing three out-of-competition doping tests between October 2005 and July 2006.
Phillips Idowu, Lisa Dobriskey and Marlon Devonish are also on the 100-person England team, which includes 13 European championship medallists from Barcelona.
"We are confident that we have assembled an accomplished athletics team which is well-balanced, extremely competitive and comprises an exciting blend of experience with the talent of youth," Commonwealth Games England athletics team leader John Brierley said.
England's top track and field athlete will skip the event in India, which runs from Oct. 3-14, however. World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis opted out of the Commonwealth Games because it clashed with her training schedule.
"I sat down with my coach and we decided the Commonwealth Games isn't a good option this year," Ennis said early this year. "October is a difficult time to peak … and October is when I begin my winter training."
Sprinter Dwain Chambers, the 60-metre indoor world champion and fifth in the 100 at the Europeans, was also left off the team. Mark Lewis-Francis is the only Englishman slated to run the 100 in New Delhi.
At the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, England won 18 medals in track and field, including six gold. Ennis earned bronze in the heptathlon, while England teammate Kelly Sotherton won gold.
Farah is fast emerging as a star as well. He won the 3,000 at the European indoor championships last year in Turin, and took silver at the European cross-country championships in Brussels in 2008 — two years after winning the event in Italy.
Against world competition, however, Farah still has some work to do. He finished seventh in the 5,000 at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, and although he set a British record in the 5,000 last week at the Weltklasse in Zurich, he still finished fifth in 12 minutes 57.94 seconds.
Source: The Canadian Press