Sport
Wednesday, July 31, 2013PARIS, France (AFP) — Croatia’s two-time world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic withdrew yesterday from next month’s World Championships because of a painful foot.The 29-year-old, who missed last year’s Olympics because of repercussions from a poorly performed operation on an ankle, had shown she was returning to form after a 20-month absence with victory in her first event back, the Diamond League meet in New York.Vlasic, who won world gold in 2007 and 2009, as well as silver in 2011, said she could not risk aggravating whatever was wrong with her foot.“The pain in my foot became more intense after the Diamond League competition in Monaco (on July 19) and it still has not calmed down after the other competitions,” she said on her website.“This is a clear sign that I need to stop for a while and recover completely. To jump in Moscow would be too much of a risk and could only jeopardise the future, and I don’t want to risk that.”Vlasic’s withdrawal further weakens the line-up at the World Championships, which gets under way in Moscow on August 9 and has been hit by injuries to stars such as Kenya’s 800m Olympic champion and world record holder David Rudisha and positive dope tests for American 100m runner Tyson Gay and Jamaica’s former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell.
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Vlasic withdraws from worlds
