Olympic champion Mitcham out of world champs

Sydney: Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham has been ruled out of the Australian diving team for the world championships later this month.

Mitcham tore abdominal muscles competing in a Grand Prix meet in Montreal, Canada earlier this year but had hoped to recover in time for the 10-meter platform event at the aquatic world championships, which starting July 16 at Shanghai. His focus now is on defending his Olympic gold medal."Not competing with an injury is the best thing for my Olympic preparation," Mitcham said. "This is a small sacrifice to make for the bigger picture, which is London next year." Mitcham won the 10-meter platform in a stunning upset at the 2008 Olympics, preventing host nation China from sweeping all eight gold medals in diving at the Beijing Games. He said he`d been prepared to compete with limited preparation but had been advised that the risks were too great. "Medical advice I received outlined I was five to seven times more likely to suffer another injury that would have sidelined me for three months," he said. Bureau Report