Kelly Holmes celebrates winning the 1500m in Glasgow (© Getty Images)
Double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes has been forced to pull out of the Norwich Union London Grand Prix on Friday and will not run at the 10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Helsinki, Finland (6 - 14 Aug) because she has not recovered from an Achilles injury sustained earlier this summer.
Holmes missed the UK World Championships trials two weeks ago but was hoping to run the 1000m on Friday. It would have been her last ever track race in London.
"For the past week I have been doing everything to get over my Achilles problem," she said today (Wednesday). "I've been getting intense physio but last night's training session proved to me that I just can't race on it."
"I am bitterly disappointed because I was desperate to run in my home meeting. My physio, Ali Rose, and I have decided I need to stop pushing myself to recover."
Holmes is now aiming to be fit for her last ever track appearance in Britain, the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield on 21 August.
"I'm very determined to run this race," she said. "It's the most important thing for me at the moment. It means more to me than any other race this season."
The injury blow means Holmes will not be able to defend her World Championships 800m silver medal in Helsinki.
"Obviously this means I am out of the World Championships, which is another big blow," she said. "The only reason I am continuing to train is to race in front of my home crowd one last time. All my focus is now on racing in Sheffield.
"I just can't put into words how disappointed and frustrated I am."
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
