The 33-year-old has not competed since injuring his foot when he landed awkwardly in a triple jump competition in Eugene, Oregon, on June 2.

He missed the Olympic trials in Birmingham and also pulled out of the Aviva Grand Prix at Crystal Palace just minutes before his competition was due to start after suffering from tightness in his left hip during his warm-up.

There has since been confusion over the condition of the 2009 world champion.

The UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee confirmed at the trials that Idowu had a medical problem but refused to divulge any details on the grounds of confidentiality.

The confusion deepened a couple of days before the Crystal Palace meeting when Idowu, making his first media appearance in weeks, denied – in curiously stilted and roundabout fashion – that he been injured at all.

However, a statement released by UK Athletics today confirming that Idowu would not be travelling with his GB colleagues to the team's pre-Olympic base in Monte Gordo, Portugal, removed any doubt that Idowu does have a serious problem.

Idowu in action during the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu , where he won the silver medal

UK Athletics have not been able to give any assurance that he would be competing in London.

In the statement, Idowu's coach, Aston Moore, said: "In training recently Phillips has had an ongoing injury problem and we have not been able to go at things 100 per cent.

"At the weekend, Phillips told me he would continue to seek treatment from a private physio in London and would not travel to prepare in Portugal, although he may join us here later.

"He is an experienced athlete who I have worked with for more than four years and we will assess the situation again in the coming days."

Idowu's injury problems are a serious blow to Britain's medal hopes since, at his best, he is a world-class performer and a serious gold medal contender.

The Hackney-born athlete has won gold medals at every international championship except the Olympics after narrowly missing out on the title in Beijing four years ago.

But with American world champion Christian Taylor in superb form this season, anything less than 100 per cent fitness could put paid to his hopes of completing his medal collection in London.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2012: Idowu denies injury stories ahead of preparation for Crystal Palace return
April 2012: Idowu, Pendleton and Pollock join Team Samsung for London 2012
January 2012: Olympic triple jump champion and Idowu's rival out of London 2012
June 2011: I'm no Twit blasts angry Idowu as he accuses van Commenee of lying
February 2011: Triple British success led by brilliant Farah