Abeylegesse escapes death to win the woman's European Championship 10 000m
Thu 29/07/2010 20:01
Newly crowned European 10,000m champion Elvan Abeylegesse could have died just three days before her title winning run according to her manager after her taxi became stuck in a flood, spikesmag.com reports.
The Turkish distance runner was traveling from her altitude training base in Erurzum some 1500km from Istanbul when her cab became stranded because of the floods.
Water than tumbled down the valley and started rising in the car before she was rescued by nearby construction workers.
“She was terrified,” said Abeylegesse’s manager Salih Munir Yaras of the incident. “The taxi driver opened the window and she was taken to safety on to a construction machine. Elvan said “God protected me. “She came close to dying and now Elvan has won the gold medal.”
Abeylegesse’s missed her flight following the incident but a special charter plane was laid on by her team, the Enka Sport Club, and she was taken to Istanbul.