EMMA Duck's dreams of competing in next month's IAAF World Championships in Japan have been shattered by a back injury.

But it's her long-term future in the 400 metres hurdles that really concerns the 26-year-old Team Southampton athlete, who is just back from five weeks' intensive treatment at London's Olympic Medical Institute.

What Duck had first presumed to be a routine back problem turned out to be far more serious. She was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower spine and was told not to run for six to eight weeks.

She is due to start training again this weekend (July 29/30), but that's scant consolation for the heartbroken Townhill Park talent, who is missing out on the UK trials for next month's World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

"The World Championships have fallen flat for me now," sighed Duck who, after a winter of hard slog, has been unable to build on the 57.26 seconds she ran in Italy in May.

"I'll start training again and try and get a couple of track fixtures in before the end of the season, otherwise it's going to be a long year.

Full story in today's Daily Echo