Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles to miss Rio Olympics due to injuries

Cuba's Olympic champion hurdler Dayron Robles will miss the Rio Games due to nagging injuries that will keep him out of the 110 meters hurdles competition, the island's official media reported Tuesday.

According to the Granma daily, Robles hasn't been able to overcome injuries and agreed with trainers and medical staff to stay out of the Olympics.

Just a few days ago, Robles told Xinhua he was training in Havana but it was very limited due to the injuries that have kept him out of competition for the last 4 months.

The Olympic champion was planning his return to the Cuban track and field squad at the Rio summer games after two years of running independently.

Robles won the gold medal in Beijing 2008 with a time of 12.93 seconds in a competition that had very high expectations due to the rivalry with Chinese star, Liu Xiang, but the latter's injury kept him out of the final.

The Cuban newspaper also said triple jump star and world championship runner-up, Pedro Pablo Pichardo, is also dealing with injuries but he has traveled to Rio de Janeiro and will do the "impossible" to compete at the games.

Pichardo aggravated an injury in his right ankle last week in Cuba but the medical team decided to take him to Brazil and will continue to treat him there until the last minute.

Cuba's track and field delegation for Rio is made up now of 42 athletes and its best chances at winning medals are with Pichardo, discus thrower Denia Caballero, and pole vault world champion and Olympic runner-up Yarisley Silva. Endit