Vienna, July 17: Surgeons on Tuesday removed a tumor they described as benign from the hip of Olympic track silver medalist Stephanie Graf.
Graf, 29, was operated on for 2 1/2 hours at a Vienna hospital, where doctors removed the growth located between her right hip bone and the sciatic nerve, the Austria Press Agency reported.

One of her doctors, Alfred Engel, said the operation was successful and that the tumor was not cancerous.

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Graf, who won the silver in the women's 800 meters in 2000 in Sydney, withdrew in February from the Energizer EuroSeries finals in France, citing illness.

Over the past weeks, Graf was unable to train due to pain in her hip which sometimes spread to her back and thigh. Before the operation, Graf told reporters that she was shocked when she first learned she had a tumor. Although convinced from the start that it was benign, "I passed out when I found out about it," due to fears about what doctors described as potentially risky surgery, she said.

"For my health, this operation is really the best thing," she added. "And the sooner it comes out, the sooner I can start retraining for the World Championship season in 2003."

Engel said that if Graf recovers normally, she should be able to begin light training in water in about two weeks. Bureau Report