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Wednesday, September 6
Hunter won't compete if not at full strength
Reuters
RALEIGH, N.C. -- World shot put champion C.J.
Hunter has undergone arthroscopic surgery for torn knee
cartilage, jeopardizing his participation in the Sydney
Olympics.
|  | | A knee injury might leave C.J. Hunter with nothing to do but help his wife, Marion Jones. |
"It's day-to-day," Hunter, the husband of superstar Marion
Jones, said in an interview at North Carolina State University
on Wednesday. "I'll be there Sydney, but the question is, how
much can I do."
Hunter, one of the Sydney favorites, said he suffered a torn
lateral meniscus in his left knee while lifting weights in
London in early August.
He did not realize the extent of the injury until the knee
gave out at the Brussels grand prix meet. He had the knee
examined in Berlin and surgery was scheduled for Sunday, the day
after he and Jones returned to the United States from
competitions in Europe.
The Olympic shot put preliminaries and final are scheduled
for Sept. 22 in Sydney, and Hunter made it clear he would not
compete unless he was at full strength.
"If I am not ready to go and win the thing, I have no
interest in going out there and hoping to make the finals," he
said.
It is a "crystal ball" guess whether Hunter recovers in
time, said Dr. Tim Taft, who performed the surgery in nearby
Chapel Hill.
"We remain optimistic. It's just that he will have lost
valuable training time. That is likely to interfere with his
effectiveness. But we are pushing him along as fast as he and
his knee will allow us to go."
Hunter said he expected no long range problems because of
the injury. "If the Olympics were a month and a half away, I
think I would be fine," he said.
If he is unable to compete, the world champion said he would
spend his time assisting Jones, who is seeking to become the
first female track and field performer to win five gold medals
in the same Games.
"I was pretty upset when I first learned about the
injury," Hunter said. "Then I figured I could spend the next
50 years being upset about it or the next month putting all my
energies getting her ready.
"Fortunately I have something else to focus on."
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