Zola Budd Says She’s Quitting Competition

South African-born runner Zola Budd said Monday night she is quitting international competition on medical advice and returning to South Africa.

“Pressure of recent events have told on my health to such an extent that at the moment I no longer feel well enough to continue in competitive athletics,” Budd, 21, said in a statement issued by her coach, John Bryant.

Budd said she was suffering from nervous exhaustion and was not well enough to continue fighting claims that she had broken international rules by competing in South Africa.

Her coach said Budd had become extremely depressed since allegations that she competed last year in an event in South Africa, becoming ineligible to run under international rules banning sporting links with the white-ruled republic.

He said Budd could see no other prospect than a ban, for 12 months at least, from international athletics, which would have barred her from competing at the Olympic Games in Seoul in September.