ATHENS - ''It is Elvan's own decision so I don't have the right to do anything about an athlete's free will although I am the minister of state for sports,'' Turkish State Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said on Tuesday after Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey decided not to run tonight's women's 1,500-meter qualifying round at the 28th Summer Olympic Games in Greek capital Athens.
Stressing that this decision was taken by Elvan Abeylegesse, her coach and Turkish Federation chairman, Sahin said, ''they say that she is not psychologically ready for another race. After we evaluate the developments, we will take a decision, of course. However, Elvan is a successful athlete of Turkey. I believe she would achieve more successes in the future on behalf of the Turkish nation.''
''On the other hand, we got some information about a campaign that has been launched against Elvan in Ethiopia,'' Sahin stressed.
Stating that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was investigating whether or not there was such a campaign, Sahin noted that they were trying to understand why Elvan had failed in women's 5,000-meter final last night.
Sahin said, ''there were reports a few days ago which claimed that Ethiopians were threatening Elvan. We think it might have been one of the causes of her failure last night. Because she finished forty-eight seconds slower than her world-record which she set just two months ago. So I think there should be some serious problems. However, I talked this issue with sports foundation ENKA Chairman Sarik Tara. He told me that a development like threat is out of question.''
(EÖ-MS) 24.08.2004