World champion Dorcus Inzikuru of Uganda offer prayers of thanks after her Steeplechase victory - Melbourne (© Getty Images)
Kampala, UgandaWorld Championship and Commonwealth Games 3000m Steeplechase champion Dorcus Inzikuru is set to return to competition on Monday 24 July at a European permit meeting that will be held in the Greek town of Thessaloniki.
The Ugandan has been injured for over a month and hasn’t competed at any IAAF World Athletics Tour event since she dropped out of the Ostrava meet on 30 May after suffering from a hamstring injury after leading almost half way the 3000m Steeplechase race that was won by Russian Tatyana Petrova. Bad luck had also struck the 24-year-old earlier the month when allergy problems forced her out to pull out of a planned run at the Qatar meet on 12 May.
Inzikuru, who has been training lightly to maintain her fitness while receiving from her hamstring injury, is currently at altitude in St. Moritz with coach Renato Canova, who has guided her at both the World championship in Helsinki, Finland, last year as well as the Commonwealth Games title in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this year.
Her quick recovery has also seen the country’s athletics governing body Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) name her on the country’s team that will compete at the African Championships next month in Mauritius.
Inzikuru’s 9:15.04 best time, the African record, that she ran at last year’s Athens Super Grand Prix is still better than this year’s world leading 3000m Steeplechase time of 9:17.15 which was sent at the Athens meeting this year on July 3 by Poland’s Wioletta Janowska, who is also expected to join the field in Thessaloniki, next Monday.
Daniel Senfuma (Daily Monitor) for IAAF