Spaniard Javier Gomez, a five-time world triathlon champion, will miss the Rio Olympics after breaking his arm in a bicycle fall in training Wednesday.
“There is no time to prepare and to be fit on the start line of the Games,” Gomez said on social media. “The most sensible thing is to open my spot and allow someone else the chance to race.”
Gomez, 33, won the world title in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He had raced once in six World Triathlon Series stops so far this season, placing fourth in Leeds, Great Britain, on June 11, when he said his fitness was not as strong as in 2012.
Gomez took silver at the London Olympics behind Britain’s Alistair Brownlee and was fourth at the Beijing Games.
The Olympic favorites without Gomez are countryman Mario Mola and both Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee.
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