Jason Smyth is out of the Northern Ireland team for Delhi

Jason Smyth has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October because of injury.

Smyth has a back injury and has been told that he should not resume training until mid-October.

The double Paralympic champion ran a new NI record of 10.32 in mid-June but his build-up to the Europeans was then affected by a hamstring injury.

The Eglinton man was unable to race for a six-week period before the European Championships in Barcelona last month.

The injury had to be carefully managed in order to make the start line at the Europeans, in which he was a 100m semi-finalist.

"From the scans we have discovered that this has been coming from the lower back," said Smyth's coach Stephen Maguire.

"Jason is devastated to miss the Commonwealth Games - it is a huge blow for him.

"He has not really trained since the middle of June and it was hard to diagnose.

"It is nothing too serious although it is serious enough that he will not be able to get the work done to enable him to be competitive in Delhi.

"The bottom line with the injury is that he is running so quick his body needs to catch up in terms of strength.

"We need to strengthen him up. He is ready to run very, very quick but the slightest wee thing can knock things out and that is what has happened."

Smyth's next major target will be the Paralympic World Games in January and a return to training in mid-October should put him back on track for defending his 100m and 200m titles in New Zealand.

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