Rawlinson out of Olympics

Rawlinson, who won her second world championship title last year in Japan just months after giving birth to her first child, returned to competition in Poland last week after the toe problem and surgery on it in January kept her out for nine months.

Unfortunately, in the days following the race she again felt pain in her toe, forcing her to abandon her Olympic dreams.

Her withdrawal is the second Olympic setback of her career. She finished fifth at Athens after a knee injury hampered her final preparations, just a year after winning her first world title in Paris.

Rawlinson was seen as being in box seat for Olympic gold.

Top challenger Yuliya Pechonkina, Russia's 400m hurdles world record holder, withdrew as she battled a heart problem.

And the news comes just a week after American Lashinda Demus, who had clocked the fastest time in the world this year, missed selection at the US Olympic trials.