NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- It's been announced that 800m world record holder David Rudisha will not compete at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on Wednesday.
Rudisha, who has been out of the country to undergo fitness checks and training, has been omitted from the starting line-up of the 800m race, where he was expected to compete against some of the emerging stars including newly-crowned Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal, who clocked a season's best time of 1:44.72 in winning gold at the event in Gold Coast, Australia.
"I still have injury challenges after I damaged my leg muscles last season in training. I put my muscle under intense stress when doing normal mileage. I damaged my quad," said Rudisha.
The 28-year-old has had several medical check-ups in Nairobi and abroad, and although he is nearing his return to top form, he did not confirm where or when he will be launching his season.
Organizers of the Shanghai Diamond League meeting had leveraged the elite team announcement on Rudisha returning to the Chinese city for the competition.
"We hope Rudisha will make it third time lucky in the men's 800m after finishing fifth on his Shanghai debut in 2016 and third last year," organizers said last month.
Kenya will still command a strong representation in the race with Kinyamal leading the troops.
Jonathan Kitilit and Solomon Lekuta, who was third at the Commonwealth Games, will all be up for the battle against strong challenge from European champion Marcin Lewandowski and local hero Chinese Ma Junyi.