Athletics: Holmes left doubtful for Paris as calf injury returns

Kelly Holmes was due to have her leg injury assessed yesterday after pulling up injured in the Madrid Super Grand Prix on Saturday.

Holmes will be hoping the calf injury which saw her limp off the track after two laps of the 1,500m can be repaired before the World Championships get underway next month in Paris.

This latest setback could not have come at a worse time for the 33-year-old, who had hoped to use Saturday's event as a warm-up for the Championships.

"I've been here before," said Holmes as she left the Estadio Madrid with her left leg heavily bandaged from her ankle to her knee. "It is a case of living from day to day, and something that is familiar.

"I picked up the injury in pre-season training. It keeps coming and going and when it reared up again, I made the decision to stop running," she added.

Elsewhere, the Harvard student Chris Lambert claimed Britain's second gold medal of the European Under-23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, yesterday, winning the 200m in 20.34sec.

The Belgrave Harrier's time, a personal best, set a new Championship record and is also well inside the A-standard of 20.59sec for next month's World Championships in Paris, making him a real challenger at next weekend's Norwich Union World Trials and AAA Championships in Birmingham.

Lambert finished five-hundredths of a second ahead of Marcin Jedrusinski of Poland, who was fifth in last summer's European Championships in Munich.

Rebecca Lyne of Hallamshire Harriers made it three gold medals for Britain in the 800m. Lyne, who showed great form running in America for Butler University earlier this season, won in 2min 4.66sec from Lucia Klocova of Slovakia with Spaniard Esther Desviat third.