Macey's future in doubt

Dean Macey may quit athletics after missing out on a place at the Olympic Games.

The decathlete competed in the Hexham Combined Events International at the weekend but did not achieve the B qualifying standard that would give him a chance of selection.

Macey said: "I now need to make a decision regarding my future. In the next week or two I'll make an announcement."

Macey arrived at the competition knowing it was his last chance to achieve the A standard of 8,000 decathlon points or the B standard of 7,700 points.

But he suffered a groin strain in the second event, the long jump, and only scored 7,491 points.

That put paid to any chance of the 30-year-old competing at the Olympics for the third time.

He said: "The past two days have been the biggest journey I've been through in my athletics career.

"We came here hoping to get the 8,000 points but knowing that even if I managed 7,800 I wouldn't go to Beijing.

"There's no way I could find another 200 or more points in such a short time. I'm out of the equation now.

"What happened out there the past two days is unreal. I've had loads of treatment to keep me going, you start a decathlon, you finish a decathlon.

"Unfortunately, in the second round of the long jump I picked up a strain in the groin and though I finished the day on a good points score I knew it was going to be a battle on Sunday."

Macey finished fourth at the Olympics in both 2000 and 2004.

He won silver at the World Championships in 1999 and gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Daniel Awde is expected to compete for Great Britain in the decathlon in Beijing.

The 20-year-old Essex athlete pulled out after seven events in Hexham but he has already reached the B qualifying standard.

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