Dayron Robles is retuning to Cuba for tests on the injury that forced him to miss the 110-meter hurdles final at the world championships in Berlin.

"Sports are like this," his coach, Santiago Antunes, said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. "We're worried because we did various tests on him in Berlin and they didn't show an injury."

Robles was under enormous pressure in Cuba, which was further increased when he promised former president Fidel Castro that he would return from Germany with a gold medal.

"I understand what Dayron is going through," said Javier Sotomayor, Cuba's team manager and a former Olympic and world champion who still holds the world record in the high jump.

"In sports, things like this happen," Sotomayor added. "We spoke to him and he's going back to Cuba to be cared for. But he still has many victories in front of him."

Robles injured his left hamstring at a meet in France in February and said it may not have fully healed. He said it began to bother him again two weeks ago.

"My muscles feel rigid and I cannot run at the top of my form," Robles said after struggling to make the semifinals.

Source: USA Today