Melbourne, Aug 20: In yet another major blow to the Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 in terms of international participation, three time Olympic gold medallist swimmer, Stephanie Rice has dropped out from the event due to an injury.

The ace Australian swimmer has been struggling with a problem in her right shoulder since Mar 2010. She has decided to give the CWG 2010, which kick starts on Oct 3, a miss to undergo a surgery.

The 22-year-old has also been ruled out of the ongoing Pan Pacific Championships in California. She, now, hopes to recover from her injury before the 2012 London Olympics.

“It"s very disappointing, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games was a fantastic event to be part of, and for me personally, and I was really looking forward to the colour and excitement of Delhi," an emotional Rice told the Swimming Australia website.

“To not be able to compete at 100 per cent here at the Pan Pans has been hard enough, but to make the decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games has been very difficult.

“It"s the right decision long-term though, because the sooner I can get the shoulder looked at properly and have the surgery done, the sooner I can get back in the pool, training at 100 per cent," added the Beijing gold medallist in the 200 and 400m individual medley, and 4x200m freestyle relay.

Rice adds to the long list of athletes, who have already decided to give the Delhi Games a miss. Earlier, tennis ace, Samantha Stosur decided to skip the tennis debut of Commonwealth Games.

Before Stosur, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton and World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis had announced their withdrawal.

OneIndia News