THE world championship hopes of a 79-year-old race walker from Kendray are in jeopardy after two spells in hospital.

Mick Barker, of Lavender Court, fell and broke his wrist and injured his ribs, chest and knees, two days before the British Masters Championships 5km Road Walk in Horwich earlier this month.

He signed himself out of hospital to compete in the race, where he won a gold medal.

His plan had been to enter the World Masters Championships in September. But Mick is now weighing up his options after a second spell in hospital suffering from exertion and dehydration.

He said: “I’ve been in A and E a couple of times over the last ten days or so, but I did the race with a broken wrist and won a gold medal. I was over the moon.

“The doctors advised me to rest for a while, so I did. I did an eight-and-a-half mile walk at a good pace and it went fine. But when I got back, I sat down in my chair and couldn’t get up. I had no control over my legs or my head, which was going form left to right.

“The ambulance came and I ended up in hospital again with dehydration and I’ve not trained since.

“The world championships are against top athletes and I need to do the training to get back up to the standard I was before.

“I’m having a few days rest and will go back to training in two or three days’ time to see how I get on.

“Entries for the world championships close in two weeks, so I’ve got to make my mind up.”

Mick has been a race walker since his teens and has won many races, including the 12-mile Sheffield Star Walk in 1964. His time was 98 minutes and 15 seconds - a record which still stands today.

Mick, a former railway engineer, walked for Sheffield United Harriers (walking section), but gave it up in 1971 to open Barker’s Fruit and Veg shop on Barnsley Road in Cudworth with his wife Marlene. He’s had various other jobs since, but never forgot about his love of race walking. During a spell in hospital in the late 90s, Mick joined a jogging club for patients and went on to join Barnsley AC.

He competed in races, championships and the London Marathon but gave it up to care for Marlene who suffered two strokes.

His first race in almost 50 years was the European Masters Athletics Championships in Alicante in May.