EDITORIAL � 01303 817100 www.kentnews.co.uk for all the news and sport WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 7, 2010 sports I 71
OLYMPIC champion Jamie Staff
looks set to join a growing list
of athletes who are planning
not to compete at this year's
Commonwealth Games.
The Games, which are scheduled
to be held in Delhi, India, in
October, have been surrounded by
fears over security, which has put
England's attendance at the cham-
pionships in doubt.
Staff, who lives in Brabourne,
near Ashford, is a big supporter of
the Commonwealth Games and
has featured in the last two at
Manchester in 2002 and Sydney in
2006, winning two silver medals
and a bronze.
But growing fears over security
after terrorist attacks in Mumbai
and Lahore in the last two years
and concerns regarding the com-
pletion of venues, has left the
36-year-old contemplating pulling
out of competing and said given the
choice, he wouldn't make the trip to
India this year.
He said: "I personally don't want
to go and I'm not even sure if the
track will be ready in time.
"There is a lot of speculation at
the moment. It's a shame because
the Commonwealth Games are
normally a fun event, but no-one
seems to be worrying about it this
time round."
With a back injury likely to force
him out of next month'sWorldTrack
Cycling Championships in Poland,
missing the Commonwealth Games
would end Staff's hopes of a major
medal this season.
Staff's comments echo the opin-
ions of a number of athletes, who
have stated their fears of travelling
to compete in India. This week
world heptathlon champion Jessica
Ennis said she has pulled out of
competing at the championships.
Fellow Olympian Lisa Dobriskey,
from Ashford, has also hinted
she may have to think about
adding the Games to her schedule
for this year.
KOS Media, the publisher of this news-
paper, has set up an online petition that
we will take right to the top of world ath-
letics as part of our campaign for Dame
Kelly Holmes to receive the gold medal
she was denied by a drugs cheat.
Holmes won a silver
medal at the World
Indoor Championships
in 2003, finishing
behind Regina Jacobs.
The American athlete
tested positive for
steroids weeks later, but
the result still stands in
the record books.
KOS Media will lobby
world governing body the International
Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) to strip Jacobs of her medal and
officially recognise Holmes as the true
champion.
First we need your backing, by joining
our online petition. To sign up, visit
www.epetitions.net and search `KOS
Media Campaign for Kelly', where you
can leave a personalised message.
The campaign has received the sup-
port of Chris Hespe, head of Sport,
Leisure and Olympics at Kent County
Council.
He said: "It's vitally important for our
young people in this county to under-
stand cheats don't prosper. That's why I
fully support the campaign.
"Kelly Holmes is such an icon now that
if the wrong is righted then that will be of
national, if not international significance.
"That's an incredibly powerful mes-
sage that will reverberate around
nations: if you cheat you will be found
out, so it's not worth it."
Join online to
help us win
gold for Kelly
SIMON King has cleared an
important hurdle in his rehabili-
tation from a serious ankle injury,
but it's still far from certain
whether the defender will return
for Gillingham this season.
The 26-year-old damaged ankle ligaments
falling awkwardly in a pre-season friendly
at Bromley last July.
It needed surgery to correct the problem
and although King came off the crutches in
October, he only got the go-ahead from spe-
cialists to begin jogging this week.
The centre-back's programme began
with only a few minutes' light jogging on
Thursday. After such a long time out, King
admitted before the session he dreaded
suffering a set-back.
Scared
"It's that nervous anxiety feeling where I've
never been so scared but also I've been look-
ing forward to this day for months," he said.
"It's mixed emotions � I think the only thing
in my head is I don't want to get too disheart-
ened if it is a bit painful, because obviously I
haven't jogged for six or seven months."
King is on course with his recovery, but
must still take his rehabilitation on a day-
by-day basis. If Thursday went without a
hitch he was expecting to be in again today,
slowly increasing the time and intensity.
Although there are three months of the
season still to play, there is no guarantee of
recovering match fitness in time to make a
first-team return. King has held on to the
prospect of playing again before May to get
him through the lonely weeks in the gym,
but acknowledges it may not happen.
He said: "I think realistically a lot of peo-
ple say I won't play again this season, but
obviously I'm ambitious and I'd love to play
some part.
"A couple of months from now we've got
some tough games and if we're in a relega-
tion battle � hopefully we're not � you
never know, the gaffer might not want to
put me in there.
"Ideally for me it would be nice if we had
eased away from it and had nothing to play
for, then he might stick me in and I'll get a
few minutes."
Gills boss Mark Stimson has sorely
missed King, who he rates as one of the best
defenders in League One, but will make
sure no short cuts are taken on the path to
a full recovery.
He said: "We've got to make sure we keep
the reins on him because Simon is one of these
players who would play through anything."
NUMBER ONE : Kelly Holmes was denied
gold by USdrug cheat Regina Jacobs
King's hopes and
fears over return
Bad ankle injury
could keep Gills
defender out for
rest of season
Olympic hero Staff latest star set
to boycott Commonwealth Games
Picture: BRITISH CYCLING
By DAVID PRITCHARD
ONE STEP AT A TIME:
Simon King is hoping to
feature in Mark Stimson's
(inset) plans before the
end of the season
Picture: ADY KERRY
STEERING CLEAR? Jamie Staff (right) says he doesn't want to go to India

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