Spaniard Belmonte to miss world championships

Belmonte, who would have been challenging for multiple medals including the individual medley and distance freestyle events, has been struggling with several injuries over the last few months and has decided to concentrate on getting fit for the 2016 Olympics.

“In the end I am not going to the world championships in Kazan,” she wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

“I tried up until the last moment but the injury has prevented me from being 100 percent.

“My objective until the start of the new season will be to get my shoulders fully right and start to work towards Rio 2016.”

Belmonte won silver in the 200m butterfly and the 800m freestyle at London Olympics in 2012.

(Reporting by Tim Hanlon, editing by Pritha Sarkar)