Britain's Pickering out of Olympics with injury

Britain's Pickering out of Olympics with injury

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) Britain's Craig Pickering has withdrawn from the bobsled competition at the Sochi Olympics with a back injury.

Pickering, who also on Britain's track team in the 2008 Beijing Games, injured his back on Feb. 2 while training in Germany. Pickering was also forced to miss the London Olympics with a back injury and said he's ''devastated to have suffered a similar fate'' in the days leading up to the Winter Games.

Coach Gary Anderson said the loss of Pickering, a push athlete for Great Britain-2, was a ''big blow and I am personally devastated.''

Anderson said the team is still deciding which athletes to have in its sleds for the two- and four-man competitions.