Team GB's bobsleigh athlete Craig Pickering has been withdrawn from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics after suffering a recurrence of a long-term back injury.
The 28-year-old, who was reserve for the five-man bobsled team, sustained a L3-4 acute disc prolapse while training at GB Bobsleigh's Olympic Preparation Camp in Konigsee, Germany.
It is a similar injury to the one that ruled former 100m sprinter Pickering out of the London 2012 Olympics, with the medical team at the English Institute of Sports in Bisham Abbey deeming him unfit to compete in Russia.
"Having missed out on competing at the London 2012 Games due to a back injury I am devastated to have suffered a similar fate just days before the start of Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games," a Pickering statement read.
"I would like to thank all the staff at British Bobsleigh who have been incredibly helpful in making sure I've had the best support and treatment both in Germany and back in the UK.
"We worked so hard to qualify the GBR 2 sled for Games and I am gutted that I won't be on the start line with Lamin, John and Ben. I will cheering the boys on from the UK and wish the rest of Team GB the best of luck in Sochi."
Pickering swapped to bobsled in 2012, having previously run in the 2008 Beijing Games 4x100 relay.
