Rutherford hopes take further injury blow

Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford’s hopes of being fit for next month’s World Championships suffered a setback when he was forced to pull out of this weekend’s Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.

Rutherford, who injured his hamstring 15 days ago, said: “I’m still recovering from the hamstring injury I’ve picked up at the Diamond League meeting in Paris. Due to this I’m not ready yet to compete at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.”

The 26-year-old still hopes to be fit for the World Championships, which get under way in Moscow on 10 August. He was not named in the Great Britain team this week, but has been given longer to recover, with the long jump selection announcement being delayed until 30 July. The pick, which is between him and Chris Tomlinson, is at the discretion of performance 
director Neil Black.

Rutherford was due to compete alongside fellow London 2012 gold medallists Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill at the 
Anniversary Games on Saturday in a re-creation of “Super Saturday”, when they all took gold in the space of 45 minutes.

Rutherford added: “Super Saturday was one of the greatest moments in British athletics history. I have no doubt the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games will be a great event with some exceptional performances once again.

“It’ll be hard to see my competitors out there but I’m working as hard as I can to be ready for the World Championships.”

Ennis-Hill’s participation is also in question due to an ankle injury which has prevented her from returning to the track.