Athletics: World 100m champion Yohan Blake will not defend his title at next month’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow due to a nagging hamstring injury. The 23-year-old Jamaican suffered the injury at the Utech Classic in Kingston in April and missed June’s Jamaican trials but had qualified for the 100 metres in Moscow as defending champion.

Golf: Rory McIlroy hit back at Nick Faldo yesterday after the six-times major winner told the young Northern Irishman that he had to devote more time to golf. McIlroy has had a troubled season after changing clubs at the start of the year following the signing of a mega-bucks deal with Nike and he was clearly irritated by Faldo’s comments. “He said I should be at the course nine to five,” McIlroy told reporters on the eve of the British Open. “I actually was on the range at 6.15 yesterday and got out of the gym at 6:15, a 12-hour day compared to his eight-hour day. Nick should know how hard this game is at times.”

Tennis: Martina Hingis will come out of retirement to contest the women’s doubles at the Southern California Open in Carlsbad later this month. The 32-year-old Swiss retired in 2007 but has accepted a wild card invitation to partner Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova at the WTA tournament held at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa between July 27 and August 4.

Athletics: Olympic 400m silver medallist Todd Bennett has died at the age of 51 after a short battle with cancer. Southampton Athletic Club, where Bennett was a coach and team manager, announced the news in a statement on their website yesterday.