O'Sullivan in doubt for 5,000m

MELBOURNE, Mar 19 (Reuters) Irish middle-distance runner Sonia O'Sullivan, controversially cleared to run for Australia at the Commonwealth Games, may miss Friday's 5,000 metres race through injury, officials said.

Games organisers said in a statement that O'Sullivan had suffered a hamstring injury in training.

O'Sullivan's partner and coach Nic Bideau would decide on Tuesday whether the 36-year-old would compete, the statement said.

O'Sullivan was born in the Republic of Ireland, which is not a Commonwealth member, but was selected to run for Australia, where she lives and trains about half the year.

Games officials said a week ago that O'Sullivan could run in Melbourne despite deciding to close a loophole in eligibility rules that allowed her to compete.

O'Sullivan was granted Australian citizenship about two months ago.

Under international regulations, athletes normally have to sit out international competition for three years before they can compete for another country.

That clause has not previously applied to the Games but the Commonwealth Games Federation general assembly voted last Sunday to close the loophole. Athletes with dual citizenship must now follow international regulations.

The federation said it would be unfair to apply it in O'Sullivan's case because team selections had already been made, even though Commonwealth officials said it it made a ''mockery'' of the competition.

Concerns over the loophole were raised after O'Sullivan said she also wanted to compete for Ireland at this year's European championships.

Reuters PM VP1135