Olympic, world champion Tirunesh Dibaba is out of 10K at worlds with injury; Sihine also hurt

Dibaba, Shihine out of 10K at worlds with injuries

BERLIN — Ethiopia’s Olympic and world 10,000-meter champion Tirunesh Dibaba has pulled out of Saturday’s event at the world championships because of injury.

Dibaba was still flying to the German capital for tests and was hoping to compete in the 5,000 qualifying on Wednesday.

“Maybe she can still make the 5K. That still has to be decided,” Ethiopia’s technical director Dube Jillo told the Associated Press. Dibaba was seeking to win a third world title in a row.

In another setback, Sileshi Sihine, Dibaba’s husband since 2008, has pulled out of the men’s 10,000 with a hamstring injury. Sihine has won two world and two Olympic silver medals over the distance.