'Heartbroken' Merry misses out

Britain's hopes at next month's World Championships in Edmonton were dealt a major blow today as Olympic bronze medallist Katharine Merry became the latest star to pull out with injury.

Although Merry - who won bronze in the 400m metres in Sydney last September - has been suffering from a virus, she was thought to have made a full recovery following her impressive display at last Sunday's Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

She announced afterwards she would be fit to go and even talked confidently about her chances of winning gold in Canada. But her dreams of glory were shattered today not by the virus but by a scan which revealed she picked up an Achilles injury following her 400m win at Crystal Palace.

She said: "Having suffered a lot of pain after my 400m victory at Crystal Palace, I had an MRI scan yesterday which identified a degeneration in my Achilles. As a result I have been warned that even if I could run three rounds in Edmonton, I run the risk of my Achilles rupturing.

"Because of this advice and having only trained twice in five weeks due to illness, I have taken the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the Championships. Despite my recent illness, I felt I could win the World Championships and bring back a gold medal. My plans now are to seek further advice on a course of treatment that will get me back on track as soon as possible."

Merry's decision follows yesterday's announcement that her training partner Darren Campbell, who won silver over 200m in Sydney, would not be going to Edmonton after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.

Merry was one of Britain's best hope for a gold in Edmonton along with Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards.

Reigning 400m Olympic title holder Cathy Freeman is having a year off and after running the world's fastest time this year, Merry was favourite to take over as world No1.