Athlete Tamika Williams has taken the advice of her therapist and abandoned her quest to qualify for the Olympic Games in Greece next month.

The 25-year-old Bermudian was forced to make the decision last week as she continued her comeback after suffering stress fractures in both legs.

The injuries forced Williams to leave her base in California in May to return home to rest. But she recently flew back to the west coast of the United States determined to reach her goal of qualifying for Bermuda in the women?s 800 metres.

Her qualifying target was 2.01.30, and her best for the season 2.04.40 which broke her own Bermuda national record.

However, she?s now decided the Games are out of reach.

?It?s disappointing, but it was something that couldn?t be prevented,? she said before heading up to Sacramento on Sunday to cheer her team-mates at the United States Olympic trials.

Williams said that she had been told more time was required to heal the stress fracture in her right tibia and a stress reaction in her left metatarsals.

She had hoped that the injuries would have healed by now, but it wasn?t to be.

?There was a time where if things went as planned I would have been increasing my speed work and attempting to bring my times down closer to the Olympic standards. I came home to rest and tried to come back and run too much too soon. Although my mind was in gear my body did not take well to the early and intense comeback,? she explained.

?I went to Indiana two weeks ago where I was the rabbit for one race, then I came back two days later and ran a 2.05.25. I was pleased with the race and how well I dealt with it mentally, but I began to feel pain in my previously acquired injuries as well as my knees. I tried to run one last race on June 29 and after leading 700 metres of the 800 metres I was forced to drop out.

?When I returned to California my therapist advised me to end my season. He said that if I continued there was a chance that I would fully break the already breaking bones in my foot. He reminded me of how much I had developed as a runner and how much more I had to go.?

Williams still believes she has a bright future in athletics and will to continue to train and compete when she returns to the Island to take up a full time teaching post in September.

However, she admits she will miss training with her friends and fellow athletes on the Nike Farm Team.

?Before deciding to end my season I had already agreed to return home and begin teaching in the Fall. As I am approaching my last week here in California I have done much reflecting on my three years training with the Nike Farm Team in Palo Alto,? she said.

?Although I am sad that I am moving away from the team without having reached my goal of running in Athens, I am grateful to have been able to train with some of the best middle distance runners in the United States. Every single woman from my 800 metres training group qualified to compete in the US trials and I would have been there too had I been an American citizen.

?I have gained an amazing amount of experience and exposure in track and field while I continued my education to become a teacher. As a person I have grown and have overcome many obstacles.?

Williams remembers talking with Bermuda youngsters while home in May, telling a group of runners that if they didn?t meet their goals the first time they shouldn?t quit.

?I have every intention of bringing the knowledge I have attained to Bermuda, make changes to my training and reset my goals so that I can continue running competitively and reach the professional level that I have been on the border of for these last three years.

?More importantly I am ecstatic about beginning teaching my first class of Bermuda students.?