Germany’s high-jump record holder Ariane Friedrich is out of next month’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow as she struggles for form after injury, her manager confirmed Tuesday.
The 29-year-old has cleared a season’s best 1.90m, five centimetres short of the qualifying standard for Moscow which needs to be achieved by July 29, while a knee injury forced her out of last month’s German championships.
Friedrich has laboured to recover full fitness since tearing her achilles tendon in December 2010 with the world athletics championships to be held in Moscow from August 10-18.
“Ariane is a bit down, but the situation is nothing new,” said her manager Guenter Eisinger after Friedrich won a bronze at the 2009 world championships in Berlin when Usain Bolt set the world 100m and 200m records.
“With a season’s best of 1.90m, you can’t be selected and Ariane won’t be trying to reach the standard required now, she needs to get fully fit first.”
Friedrich set the German record of 2.06m in June 2009, with the world record standing at 2.09m.
High-jumper Friedrich out of world champs
