Injury prevents Czech decathlete from preparing for Beijing Olympics

PRAGUE, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Czech decathlete Roman Sebrle, a world record holder, recently suffered a muscle injury, due to which he can neither attend the athletic event in Goetzis in late May nor continue preparing for the Beijing Olympics, his coach Dalibor Kupka said on Tuesday.

Sebrle got his back thigh muscle damaged while training in South Africa on April 18, the Czech news agency CTK quoted Kupka as saying.

The crack in his muscle is similar, though a bit smaller, to the previous one he suffered at the Indoor Athletics World Championships in Valencia two months ago, according to Kupka.

Kupka admitted that the preparations of Sebrle, the world champion and Olympic gold winner, for the Beijing Olympic Games has been seriously complicated as Sebrle will miss several important weeks of training.

Sebrle, 33, earlier said this year's Olympics are the last games where he can hope to win a medal.

Kupka said the previous injury had somewhat slowed down Sebrle's preparations but now the problem is even bigger.

"He has to wait again. I don't know how long," Kupka said.