Ethiopia's Olympic and world 10,000 metres champion Tirunesh Dibaba has pulled out of today'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 has pulled out of the 10,000 with a hamstring. Sihine has won two world and two Olympic silver medals over the distance.

Radcliffe uncertain

Meanwhile, marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe expects to know by Wednesday whether she will race at the World Championships.

The 35-year-old from England plans to run in tomorrow's NYC Half-Marathon for her first race since foot surgery in March. She will determine whether to compete in the Worlds marathon on August 23 in Berlin depending on how she feels during the race in New York and recovers after it.

Radcliffe said yesterday that she didn't think she'd race at the Worlds after a disappointing training run a week ago. But after feeling better over the weekend, she decided on Monday to enter the half-marathon to try to gain the confidence she would need for Berlin.