Swedish hurdler Kallur to skip Paris race to focus on Olympics

Susanna Kallur (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, July 10) -- Susanna Kallur, two-time winner in the 100-meter hurdle race of the European Indoor Championships, said she will pull out of the Golden League competition in Paris on July 18 due to a shin injury, according to the official website of Yahoo Sports.

Kallur is a talented sprinter who has won several international medals and holds the world indoor record on 60-meter hurdles at 7.68 seconds, according to the official website of International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF). She has dual citizenship because she was born in the USA, but is now a resident of Sweden. In January of 2007, she won the Jerring Award, which was voted on by the people of Sweden, as the best sports person in Sweden.

Kallur failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, so it is likely that she will make every effort to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her manager, Daniel Wessfeldt, was quoted on the ESPN website as saying Kallur is now focused on the Olympics and doesn't want to take any risks while recovering from the injury.

Yet Wessfeldt added Kallur would aim to compete in the DN-Galan Super Grand Prix race in Stockholm on July 22 in order to prepare for the upcoming Olympic Games on August.