Athletics: Freeman struggling with injury

Australia's Olympic 400m champion Cathy Freeman is struggling in her preparation for the Manchester Commonwealth Games in July and August because of ongoing problems with a thigh injury.

Freeman will not make a return to full-scale training for another three weeks, her coach, Peter Fortune, said yesterday. Freeman, who took a break of more than a year after the Sydney Olympics, has qualified for only the 4x400m relay team for the Commonwealth Games.

Scans on her thigh have revealed that the dual world champion has not fully recovered from a stress injury.

Freeman had planned to train in the United States and compete in Europe in a bid to qualify for the 400m individual event at the Games.