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Freeman plans to run 200m as well as 400m at Olympics
SYDNEY, Aug 16 (AFP) - World champion sprinter Cathy Freeman wants to run the 200m as well the 400m at the Sydney Olympics. "I'm putting my hand up for the 200m," she told Sydney's Daily Telegraph from her London training camp. "Of course a lot depends on what the selectors decide and what happens at the trials. I'll make it really clear now -- I want whoever deserves to run the 200m to run the 200m." Australia's track and field Olympic selection trials get underway in Sydney Wednesday but Freeman is exempted after gaining team pre-selection for the 400m, of which she is a double world champion and Olympic silver medallist. But she was not pre-selected for the 200m and her absence poses a quandary for the selectors. Selection citeria says athletes must run at the trials with the only exemptions being for family bereavement or on medical grounds. Freeman though has a strong claim for one of the three 200m spots up for grabs and could be a medal prospect. She won the Commonwealth 200m title in 1994, is the national champion and ran 22.62 in Paris in June -- faster than any other Australian athlete since the end of the domestic summer season in March. The 27-year-old Aboriginal icon meanwhile said she was disappointed arch rival Marie-Jose Perec, the French two-time defending Olympic 400m champion, has pulled out a long-awaited clash at the Monaco Golden League meeting this weekend. Perec withdrew on Monday citing further pain in an Achilles injury, according to race organisers. "She would have added more drama to the race and that's healthy but, not to worry, I just want to race," she said. "I can't be bothered worrying about her, it's not my style. I'm a bit disappointed she's not running but at the same time I've got to concentrate on my own performance, focus on what I need." Perec has been racked by injury since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
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