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LONDON. — Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill has withdrawn from next month’s athletics world championships because of injury, she and her coach said yesterday. Ennis-Hill was provisionally named in the Great Britain squad on Tuesday for the competition in Moscow from August 10-18, despite struggling with an Achilles problem.
But her coach, Toni Minichiello, was quoted as saying by the BBC website: “In the last 24 hours we have looked at her Achilles injury and it has not responded well enough, so the decision is to withdraw her from the World Championships.”

Ennis-Hill (27) was one of the stars of the London Olympics last year and her victory in the seven-event competition made her one of Britain’s most recognisable sports stars.

She competed at last weekend’s Diamond League/Anniversary Games meeting at the Olympic Stadium in east London with her ankle heavily strapped and finished fourth in the 100m hurdles.

She was also quoted as saying by the BBC: “To say I am gutted is an understatement — no athlete likes to miss the opportunity to compete at a major Championships — they don’t come round that often,” said Jessica. — AFP.