15th March - Alistair Cragg, the recently crowned European indoor 3000 metre champion, has been forced to withdraw from this weekend's IAAF World Cross Country Championships due to an injury, Athletics Ireland announced today. "Alistair had missed some training after his back froze after an 8 mile run a few days ago and had been having difficulty even in walking since," a statement released this morning read. "He tried to run yesterday but to no avail. There is no clear diagnosis yet but a pinched nerve is suspected."

Prior to his gold medal-winning performance at the European Indoor Championships in Madrid ago, Cragg told reporters he was eagerly looking forward to this weekend's competition in France where he expected to compete in both the short and long course races. "It's going to be a tough weekend," Cragg said of his anticipated double. "If I get a shot at winning, or chasing the 4-k, I may reevaluate things. But I'm excited about doing the 12-k."

Cragg, who finished 16th in the short course race last year in Brussels was undefeated in three indoor races on the track this year. In late January at the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston, he ran 7.39.89 in the 3000 metres - the year's fastest performance.

IAAF World Cross Country Website