World Athletics Championships 2017: Greg Rutherford ruled out of title defence through injury

The reigning world champion has failed to recover from an ankle ligament injury

Greg Rutherford will miss the 2017 World Athletics Championships through injury (Getty)

Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford has been ruled out of the upcoming World Athletics Championships in London, with the long jumper “truly gutted” to miss next month’s tournament at the Olympic Stadium.

The 30-year-old will not defend the world title that he won at Beijing 2015 after failing to recover from an ankle ligament injury, with his rehabilitation hindered by a hernia, meaning that the two-time Olympic medallist is yet to resume jumping.

“In the last few days I have had to accept an unfortunate reality. I did everything I could, but a string of injuries at the worst possible time means I will be unable to defend my world title in London," Rutherford said.

“With an incredible start to the year in training, and very promising early season form, I have had a difficult series of setbacks as the season progressed. Most recently, a badly damaged ankle ligament and a sportsman's hernia, really put paid to my plans. The injuries have taken longer to heal than we hoped, and I have been unable to even jump at all in training, let alone compete.”

The injury robs Rutherford from recreating his career highlight, when he starred on ‘Super Saturday’ back in 2012 when he joined Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah in winning gold medals for Great Britain during the London Olympic Games.

Those memories of the unprecedented success for the nation remain just as clear for Rutherford, and makes his absence all the harder to deal with, yet the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist did confirm that he will still attend the Championships to support his British teammates.

“I am truly gutted. That stadium is such a special place for me, I am so devastated that I won’t be competing in front of the best fans in the world, in the stadium that changed my life,” Rutherford added. “But, I’ll definitely be there to support my British team mates and soak up what will be an amazing atmosphere, and an amazing championships.

Rutherford suffered an ankle injury as well as a sports hernia (Getty)

“My focus will now turn to 2018 and becoming a three time European champion on the trot, something no long jumper has ever done before.”

The 2017 World Athletics Championships begin on 5 August, with the tournament taking place at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford while Premier League club West Ham begin their season with four consecutive away games to accommodate the Championships.