Champ not fit

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EGYPT'S Olympic wrestling gold medallist Karam Gaber has refused to compete in the World Wrestling Championship currently taking place in Budapest, Hungary.

Gaber had joined the Egyptian delegation to the championship but surprised officials at the weigh-in when he claimed he was not fit because his training camp, which included taking part at international championships, was not conducted as expected. Gaber told reporters that an Olympic champion needs to train between 1,200 to 1,400 hours a year, equal to 22 to 27 training periods a week. Gaber said that since he won his gold medal in Athens 2004 he has trained only 40 hours.

He blamed the wrestling federation's officials and the Ministry of Youth, and added he did not want to participate in Budapest so as not to ruin his reputation as an Olympic champion.

It is not clear why Gaber travelled to Hungary in the first place if he thought he wasn't fully prepared.