Mo Farah became the latest big name to pull out of the UK Olympic trials in Birmingham on Saturday.
World champion withdraws from 1500m run in Birmingham
British athletics fans suffered more disappointment in Birmingham on Saturday after hearing the news that world champion Mo Farah has withdrawn from the Olympic trials.
Farah did run the heats of the 1500m last night as he worked on his finishing speed, duly qualifying with ease for this Saturday's final.
But despite claiming he was looking forward to competing in the final, the 29-year-old pulled out this morning after deciding with his coach Alberto Salazar to focus on defending his European 5,000m title in Helsinki next week.
A press release from UK Athletics on June 12, which urged the public to buy tickets for the three-day trials at the Alexander Stadium, had quoted Farah as saying: "At the Olympics I'll need to recover as quickly as possible between races, so running two races back to back will be good preparation."
Farah later tweeted, saying he had to rest for next week's race.
He said: "Sorry I can't be at the trials today guys! I need to rest as much a
possible and save my legs to defend my European title next week..!!"
Farah's withdrawal came less than 24 hours after news that former world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu would not compete at all in Birmingham.
Idowu, whose picture is plastered all over the Alexander Stadium, has not competed since suffering an injury while competing in Oregon on June 2.
He will spend his time instead at the Hackney Weekend event in his native London, posting a picture of himself on Twitter holding a handful of tickets.
World indoor triple jump champion Yamile Aldama, world 1500m silver medallist Hannah England, triple jumper Nathan Douglas and 800m runner Jenny Meadows are also absent through injury, but Jessica Ennis is scheduled to compete in four individual events as she prepares to battle for heptathlon gold in London.
