Tamgho ruled out of World Championships

(EPA)

Phillips Idowu will still have to hop, step and jump for gold, but the Briton's prospects of successfully defending his triple jump crown at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, next month brightened considerably yesterday afternoon with the news that Teddy Tamgho will be out of commission.

The 22-year-old Parisian who holds the world indoor record and the world and European indoor titles suffered an ankle injury while warming up for the qualifying round of the European Under-23 Championships at Ostrava in the Czech Republic last Saturday. An MRI scan has revealed a fractured ankle joint.

Tamgho, who heads the world rankings for this year having jumped a mighty 17.91m in Lausanne three weeks ago – Idowu's lifetime best is 17.81m – will be out of action for the rest of the track season. His priority now will be to recover and regain fitness and form to challenge Idowu, 32, for Olympic gold in London next year.