Tired El Guerrouj withdraws from final

The Moroccan middle-distance star, Hicham El-Guerrouj, has pulled out of the 1 500 metres final at the inaugural World Athletics meeting due to fatigue.

El-Guerrouj won the 1 500 at the world championships in Paris last month and currently leads the IAAF world rankings, meaning he's in line to collect prize money of US$100 000 and the title of World Athlete of the Year.

Despite pulling out, El-Guerrouj is a near certainty to win the year-end award and money. He has accumulated 1450 points, with Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele in second on 1441 and American 110-meter star Allen Johnson in third place with 1440.