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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Wayde van Niekerk won't defend his 400-meter title at the world championships because he is still recovering from a serious knee injury sustained while playing a charity tag rugby match in late 2017.
Van Niekerk's management company says the Olympic champion and world-record holder had "a setback" earlier this year and has delayed his comeback to competition for "precautionary reasons."
Van Niekerk damaged ligaments in his knee in the charity game in October 2017. He underwent surgery and has been rehabilitating at a sports medical center in Doha, Qatar.
He says "for now I'm not rushing myself or putting pressure on myself."
Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record in one of the standout performances of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The 27-year-old South African is also a two-time world champion.
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