Pregnant race walker Melanie Seeger will miss home world championships

January 24, 2009

German race walker Melanie Seeger is pregnant and will deliver her first child in July, so that a participation in the events of the 2009 world championships will not be possible.

The 32-year old, who competed in every major competition since 1995 (excluding the 2000 Olympics) said that she is willing to continue her competitive career after giving birth: “I will start to train again in autumn. The European Championships 2010 in Barcelona are an aim for me. The biggest achievements of Melanie Seeger are 5th place in the 2004 Olympics, 7th place at the 2001 World Champs and 8th place at the 2003 Worlds (all at 20km race walking).

Father of the child is the Belgian Dries Vervecken, who works at the FU university Berlin.