Injuries end the season for Tamgho, Svoboda and Damien

Triple jump indoor world record holder Teddy Tamgho has decided to end his season after suffering an ankle injury last week.

French triple jumper Teddy Tamgho has announced that he has pulled out of the World Championships and brought his season to an end after suffering an ankle injury at the European Athletics U23 Championships last Saturday.

Tamgho, the European and world indoor champion as well as the world indoor record holder, needs surgery on a fracture suffered in the qualifying rounds in Ostrava.

"Let us not forget that we are one year from the Olympic Games, there is still time," said Tamgho.

"Every day in our sport we risk injury. When you go to training there is a 50 percent chance of injury. If it had happened on July 18, 2012, I would cry, but right now I have time."

"I am really sad and affected by Teddy's injury. I think of him at this difficult time. Unfortunately, in a demanding and difficult sport such as athletics, these injuries can happen even in training,” added the French athletics federation’s technical director Ghani Yalouz.

Tamgho set the current world indoor record of 17.92m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in March, on home territory in Paris, and was one of France's best hopes for a medal at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, next month.

He leads this year’s world rankings with 17.91m, which he jumped at the Samsung Diamond League in Lausanne last month, and last year leapt 17.98m to become the third best performer ever.

Tamgho finished 11th at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, an event won by Great Britain’s Phillips Idowu won with 17.73m.

Another top French athlete, the 2010 European Athletics Championships 110m hurdles silver medalist Garfield Darien has also brought his season to an end. He announced via Facebook that he will have surgery on a hernia on Thursday.

Czech Republic’s 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships 60m hurdles winner Petr Svoboda will also not compete anymore this year.

Svoboda, who was in attendance at the European Athletics U23 Championships last week and presented a number of medals, suffered a foot injury at training camp in Gran Canaria, Spain, during the spring,

Despite recovering, he does not feel he is fit enough to be a medal contender in Daegu.

“We tried with my coach in spikes and over the hurdles [last weekend], but it was not the best feeling. It’s still painful and there is not enough time to get ready for Daegu and be in reasonable shape. It is a big disappointment after the successful indoor season. But let’s put that behind me and look forward into the future,” said Svoboda on Wednesday.