Heart-broken
Solomon withdraws from
Windhoek Berg River canoe marathon.
Cape Town – Cape river marathon star Graeme Solomon has
reluctantly withdrawn from next week's Windhoek Berg River Canoe
marathon to focus his energies on his world marathon champs
challenge in September, and in the process he has significantly
altered the dynamics amongst the 2010 Berg title contenders.
Solomon, a former winner of the four day 228km classic race from
Paarl to Velddrif that starts on Wednesday 14 July, made the
tough decision to miss this years Windhoek Berg to optimise his
chances of a world title in the world marathon champs in Spain
with Ant Stott, a former winner of the K2 world title.
"It was an unbelievably difficult decision for me to make," said
Solomon. "The Berg means so much to me, and was very much part of
my planning for 2010. However everything changed when Ant Stott
asked me to team up with him in his K2 for the worlds."
"I am not getting any younger and it is harder for me to optimise
my speed," said the popular 37 year old, who has been a dominant
strategist on the Berg for the past decade. "I feel a huge
responsibility to be able to give everything to Ant (Stott) in
the world's, and I agonised over whether I would be able to do
that, and do the Berg."
"Maybe if I was Lance King and 23 years old I would be able to do
both, but I had to make a tough decision, which gave me sleepless
nights for weeks," Solomon added. "To his credit Ant (Stott)
didn't put me under any pressure, but I'm pretty sure he is
chuffed with the decision I have taken."
Stott and Solomon make up a highly respected K2 crew, having
twice raced the world marathon championships. finishing sixth in
the world in Valladolid in Spain a year before the dramatic world
champs that was hammered by flooding in the Czech republic.
Solomon was also shaken by an injury during the recent Swartland
marathon when he was trapped in a tree block in a potentially
life threatening situation on the final day. He managed to
wrestle himself free and out of danger, but hurt his shoulder in
the process.
"That's what racing on the Berg is all about, and why I love it,"
he said "But given that an incident like that could easily happen
on the Windhoek Berg, I could not risk that sort of injury so
close to the worlds."
"I am going to hate next week, knowing that the Windhoek Berg is
starting, and having decided that I can't be there," he added.
"Maybe I'll just bury my head in the sand for four days."
"I absolutely love the Berg," he added. "Next year will be the
50th edition of the race, Windhoek will be there again and I will
be back, faster and stronger than ever! Hey, Lance Armstrong
looks like he could win the Tour de France this year and we are
about the same age!"
Solomon predicted a far closer race than many pundits have hinted
at. "The long term weather forecast looks pretty dry, so it
doesn't look like it is going to be a full Berg. That will
definitely play into the local guys hands. So watch out for
people like Pierre-Andre Rabie and Lance King," he said.
The
Windhoek Berg River Canoe Marathon takes place for 14 to 17 July,
and will be preceded by a time trials for 200 invited athletes on
Tuesday 13 July. More information can be found at
www.windhoekberg.co.za
ENDS
