Kelly Sotherton has pulled out of the World Athletics Championships just eight days after saying she was very confident of overcoming a persistent heel injury to compete in Belin.

The heptathlete, who won bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and also finished third at the worlds in Osaka two years ago, has been troubled by the problem since February.

Sotherton claimed after the trials in Birmingham she expected to be okay for the worlds, which start on 15 August. However, the 32-year-old has now conceded defeat fearing she would not be able to do herself justice in Germany.

She said today: "I made the decision not to compete after a running session where the heel was still giving me problems.

"I probably would be able to go to Berlin and finish in the top eight, but I only want to go if I can really contend for a medal."

The injury forced Sotherton to miss the European Indoor Championships in March but this will be the first time she has had to sit out a major summer event.

She believes, though, that she has made the right decision.

"I have got to think about my long-term health and in particular everything being okay for London in three years' time," added Sotherton. "I want to give myself every chance of competing at the 2012 Games.

"I will continue training to keep fit, but I am also going to speak to doctors, surgeons and specialists to look at the possibility of surgery.

"It is an injury that can be patched up, but it's more important to find a long-term solution, get myself fighting fit again and look to return to full training in the winter."

Despite Sotherton's absence, Britain's strongest gold medal hope in Berlin is still in the heptathlon, with Jessica Ennis in excellent form.

Sotherton added: "I wish the whole team well for Berlin. I wish Jess Ennis all the very best too. I know she can go out there and win the gold for the team. This weekend has also seen lots of medals being won by British athletes at the European under-23 championships, there are lots of emerging names and I hope they can go on and do well for GB in Berlin."