BAHRAIN'S Rashid Ramzi is looking forward to defending his titles in the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan later this month, despite an injury to his left foot.

Speaking to the GDN on telephone from Ramzi's training camp in Morocco, his coach Khalid Boulami said that Ramzi is eager to compete in Osaka whether he is injured or not. However, he may not be at his best for the meet as he is "only 75 per cent fit".

Ramzi is the defending world champion in the 800m and 1,500m. He won both titles during the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, becoming the first-ever athlete to win both middle-distance events in the same world championships.

"He is eager to defend his titles," Boulami said of his 27-year-old star. "He was a bit late for his preparations for Osaka because of the injury. But he has said that he doesn't care if he is injured. He wants to compete and will try to keep his title.

"He is training extra hard and is 75 per cent fit. We have made a new plan for him in preparation for Osaka, and things are going well so far."

Ramzi suffered his injury earlier this year, and has since not competed in any international meetings. He was unable to participate in any of the top-class events on this year's World Athletics Tour, which would have been crucial in gauging his opposition in Osaka. He will now have to settle for doing test-runs while in camp as the tour takes a break for the world championships.

His last competition was in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where he won the bronze medal in the men's 1,500m.

"The test-runs will not be like a real competition, but at least we will have a good idea of the times he can run," Boulami explained.

The pair plan to return to Bahrain on August 20, in time to make the trip with the majority of the Kingdom's delegation to the world championships, which begin on the 25th of this month.

Special

"We want to go with the whole team," Boulami said. "Rashid has a very special relationship with all of Bahrain's athletes, and he wants to see them before he goes to Osaka. He wants to be with the team. I think that is important for him psychologically."

Meanwhile, Boulami said that he personally believes Ramzi should concentrate more on the 2008 Beijing Olympics rather than the world championships, which he has already conquered.

"He must look for something new to achieve and that should be the gold medal in the Olympics," Boulami expressed.

For this year's world championships, Ramzi has qualified for both the 800m and 1,500m events. He achieved a qualifying time of one minute 44.05 seconds for the 800m, which he set while running in Madrid in July last year. The entry standard for the meet is 1:45.40. For the 1,500m, his qualifying mark was 3:29.14, which is the Asian record in the event. Ramzi smashed the entry standard of 3:36.60.