Athletics-Van Niekerk rules out World Championship defence

World record holder Wayde van Niekerk said he would not defend his 400-meters title at this month's World Championships in Doha as he has yet to recover from a knee injury.

The Olympic champion suffered the injury while playing a charity touch rugby game in October 2017 and has not raced internationally since. The 27-year-old South African recently returned to training after enduring a number of setbacks.