World 100 metres champion Yohan Blake will not defend his title at next month's World Athletics Championships in Moscow due to a nagging hamstring injury.The 23-year-old Jamaican suffered the injury at the Utech Classic in Kingston in April and missed last month's Jamaican trials but had qualified for the 100m in Moscow as defending champion.
"This decision was made after continual assessment and re-evaluations since his withdrawal from the Jamaican Senior Championships," Cubie Seegobin said.
"Yohan has made vast improvement, although the injury sustained in April of this year has prevented him from attaining the necessary fitness levels that we have grown accustomed to seeing in his competition performances."
Blake won the world 100m title in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011 following the disqualification of compatriot Usain Bolt for a false start.
Kenya's Olympic 800m champion and world record-holder David Rudisha has also withdrawn from the Championships. Rudisha's participation had been in doubt because of a slow-healing knee injury sustained while running in New York's Central Park.
"It is just not possible for David to effectively defend his world title in Moscow, so we announced this morning his withdrawal," his coach, Colm O'Connell, said yesterday.
Speaking from Iten, some 400km north-west of Nairobi, the Irishman said Rudisha's manager James Templeton had informed Athletics Kenya and the IAAF of the decision.
"He is improving, but the time factor is essential and a matter of concern to us. It's only one month to the worlds and we don't want to push and make it difficult for him and risk a recurrence of the injury," said O'connell.
The east African nation held its trials on Saturday and Anthony Chemut, Ferguson Rotich and Jeremiah Mutai earned 800 metre places in the squad heading for Moscow.
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