Huber to miss European championships
Swiss decathlete Philipp Huber has been forced to pull out of this summer's European athletics championships in Munich because of injury.
The 28-year-old from canton Uri is suffering from inflammations in his left foot and knee as well as in his right achilles tendon. He has also been weakened by a number of viral infections.
"There's just no point carrying on like this," Huber said as he announced his decision to rest up.
As well as having to miss out on the European championships in August, Huber will be sitting out June's Combined Events European Cup in Latvia.
Huber registered his greatest international performance to date at the 1997 world championships when he finished the decathlon in 12th place. Injury problems have plagued the Swiss athlete in the past two seasons however, and could now bring an early end to his sporting career.
"I'm leaving that decision open," Huber told the Swiss athletics association website. "First of all I want to sort out my injury problems."
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.