800 world record holder David Rudisha will not be competing at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.
The 28 year old -Kenyan tweeted it’s sad and disappointing to announce his no show due to a quad muscle strain.
The defending 800 metres champion said last week that he was “excited” to return to London, where he set the 800metres world record of one minute 40.91 seconds five years ago.
He is ranked only 19th in the world this year, but would have been bidding for a third successive gold medal at the world athletics championships.
Fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Korir and Botswana’s Nijel Amos are expected to battle for the gold in Rudisha’s absence.