Barber quits after poor showing

France's struggling World champion Eunice Barber withdrew from the Olympic heptathlon on Sunday with two events remaining.

Barber, short on fitness after injuring a thigh two weeks before the Games, withdrew after the fifth event, the long jump, as she slipped back to 10th position.

Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus led overall with 4,910 points ahead of Britain's world silver medallist Denise Lewis (4,853), with the javelin and the concluding 800 metres to come later on Sunday.

Barber joined Ghada Shouaa of Syria, the Olympic champion, on the sidelines. Shouaa quit after injuring her leg just 20 metres into her opening hurdles heat on Saturday morning.

The 25-year-old Sierra Leone-born athlete, already in trouble after poor performances in the shot and 200 metres on Saturday, managed just 5.93 metres in the long jump, way below her personal best of 7.01, before giving up.

French Athletics Federation president Philippe Lamblin said: "She went to see the physiotherapist after her first long jump attempt to see how bad it (her injury) was.

"She decided that finishing around 10th place was not up to her standard."

Barber's coach Claude Monot had warned after the first day: "She's getting tired and that's normal since she hasn't competed for so long -- nobody should expect a podium finish."

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