Teddy Tamgho suffers a 'serious' injury

Phillips Idowu's chief rival for triple jump gold at next month's World Championships has suffered an injury blow.

Teddy Tamgho damaged his right ankle while warming up at the Under‑23 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Saturday.

Tamgho and Britain's Idowu were due to go head to head in Friday's Diamond League meeting in Monaco. The Frenchman is now waiting for the results of an MRI scan and while it seems highly unlikely he will appear at the Louis II Stadium, what is of more concern are his prospects of being fit for the World Championships.

The French Federation said at the weekend that their initial thoughts were Tamgho was not out of the finals in Daegu, which start on August 27. But the 22-year-old said: "It looks serious. I hope the season is not over for me."

Tamgho posted the longest triple jump in the world when he leapt 17.98metres in New York last month.

Ten days later, however, Idowu easily won their clash at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham with the Briton jumping 17.54m - 80cm further than the Frenchman.