Freeman confirms she will run at Manchester

Freeman said Bodecker had urged her to run at Manchester.

“He knows me so well, he knows how passionate I am about my running,” Freeman said in an interview on Australian television.

“It’s such a big part of who I am. He encouraged me and said ‘go for it, Cath’, and that’s it, really.

“I’m just a bit worried about my fitness, but I’ve got a bit more time on my side and my coach is confident.

“I’m just happy, it’s good. I’m just really excited to be part of the Australian team again.

“I’m feeling the rush and the adrenaline of competition again.”

The report said Bodecker, a US sportswear executive, continued to undergo treatment in Melbourne.

Freeman, who lit the Olympic cauldron at the Sydney 2000 Games opening ceremony, took 18 months off from international competition after winning gold.

The double world champion missed this year’s national championships with a thigh injury and had qualified for the Commonwealth Games relay team but not in the individual event. Freeman had said on May 30: “Probably at this stage really, it is highly unlikely that I will be on the track at all, but we will just have to wait and see.

Violeta may miss European Champioships

BUCHAREST: Romania’s 1500-metres Olympic silver medallist Violeta Beclea-Szekely may pull out of August’s European Championships due to poor form. “I’ll drop this weekend’s Monaco Golden League meeting,” shetold Reuters on Monday. “And I’ll also drop the European Championship if I don’t manage to get in perfect shape in the next 20 days.”