Injured Wayde van Niekerk withdraws from Diamond League
South African athlete Wayde van Niekerk's season has come to an end.
The double world champion has withdrawn from the Diamond League final in Zurich due to a recurring back injury.
He was expected to take to the track in the 400m race on Thursday.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) says the Olympic champion has had to manage the niggle throughout the season.
Van Niekerk says: "This injury has plagued me throughout the summer, and I had to receive treatment from Dr Muller-Wohlfahrt. Obviously you don't want your competitors to know if you're struggling in any way, so I've kept it quiet until this point."
Returning to training last week after his successful campaign at the World Championships, the 25-year-old sprinter felt the back injury flare up again.
Sascoc says after consultation with coach Ans Botha, it was decided to avoid the risk of competing again at this late stage of the season, as a precaution in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, in April.
"I'm bitterly disappointed I won't be competing in the last Diamond League event of the season, as I haven't won a Diamond League Final before and was hoping to get my hands on one of the fiercely-contested Diamond trophies, but we feel it is in my best interest to recover fully, in order to ensure I can take on the 2018 season in good health and at full strength," he adds.