London 2012 Olympics: Fitness fears rise for Phillips Idowu

INJURY concerns surrounding Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu intensified yesterday with confirmation the triple jumper has not travelled to the British team’s training camp in Portugal.

Idowu has stayed in London to continue receiving treatment on the hip injury which caused him to withdraw from the London Grand Prix earlier this month, just 25 minutes before his event was due to start.

In a statement, the 33-year-old’s coach Aston Moore said: “In training recently, Phillips has had an ongoing injury problem and we have not been able to go at things 100 per cent.

“At the weekend Phillips told me he would continue to seek treatment from a private physio in London and would not travel to prepare in Portugal, although he may join us here later.

“He is an experienced athlete who I have worked with for more than four years and we will assess the situation again in the coming days.”

Idowu, who was denied
Olympic gold by just five centimetres at the Beijing Games four years ago, has been at the centre of speculation about his fitness since his last competitive appearance on 1 June in Oregon, when he took three jumps before sitting out the rest of the competition.

He subsequently withdrew from meetings in Oslo and Paris and the Olympic trials in Birmingham, with UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee declining to clarify Idowu’s situation due to issues of “medical confidentiality”.

Idowu claimed before the London Grand Prix that he had never mentioned an injury and was happy to let the “rumour mill stir itself,” but pulled out of the competition at Crystal Palace with a hip problem he felt while warming up.