Non Stanford: Former world champion pulls out of World Triathlon Series Grand final

Non Stanford finished fourth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio

Non Stanford has pulled out of the World Triathlon Series Grand Final in Rotterdam.

The Welsh athlete, world champion in 2013, hoped to compete in the finale on 16 September but has been ruled out by illness.

It completes an difficult year for the Stanford who missed races in Stockholm, Hamburg, Edmonton and Montreal.

The 28-year-old tore an Achilles tendon in November 2016, but won the Chengdu Triathlon World Cup on her return.

Stanford finished seventh and 11th respectively in the WTS races in Yokohama and Leeds, but withdrew from the European Championships in Switzerland in June because of illness and then suffered a recurrence of her Achilles problem.

She still hopes to compete in Jersey next week in what would be her final race of the year before concentrating on the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast in April 2018.