Kilty out of relay after nearly losing finger

RICHARD KILTY has withdrawn from the British team for the World Championships after nearly losing a finger in a freak accident at home.

Sportsmail understands the European 60 metres champion, who was part of the 4x100m relay squad, trapped his finger in a heavy wooden door and suffered a severe open fracture on his baton-carrying hand. The 27-year-old (right) initially gave little away about the accident when announcing his withdrawal with a broken finger, but later clarified: ‘ Broken finger doesn’t sound too bad but it was an open fracture, bone out, nail bed and flesh dangling off. I thought I may lose the finger. Thankfully it has been saved and I’m recovering well. ‘This is hard for me to take in but I will take time to have a small operation around my foot and achilles, and recover from illness. ‘This year things started great, defending my European 60m title, but since then I have been plagued with illness and an achilles injury which have set me back a lot this summer.’ Greg Rutherford has also confirmed his absence from the championships, which start in London next week, after failing to recover from the ankle ligament injury he suffered at the start of June. Losing the long jump world champion, who also won the Olympic title at London 2012, is a huge blow for the team, which is light on genuine gold medal contenders. ‘I am truly gutted,’ said Rutherford. ‘That stadium is such a special place for me. I am devastated that I won’t be competing in front of the best fans in the world, in the stadium that changed my life. ‘In the last few days I have had to accept an unfortunate reality. I did everything I could, but a string of injuries at the worst possible time means I will be unable to defend my world title. ‘The injuries have taken longer to heal than we hoped and I have been unable to jump at all in training, let alone compete.’ Shara Proctor, who won world silver two years ago, and Olympic finalist Jazmin Sawyers have been called up for the long jump among five late additions to the British team. Lennie Waite (3,000m steeplechase), Marc Scott (5,000m) and Jess Turner (400m hurdles) are also in.