Dual Olympic walking medallist Jemima Montag has made the heartbreaking decision to undergo hamstring surgery, ruling her out of a red-hot tilt for gold at next month's world athletics championships in Tokyo.
Montag has been one of Australia's finest performers on the global stage in recent years, claiming silver at the 2023 world titles in Budapest and bronze in the 20km and the marathon mixed relay at the Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old suffered a recurrence of a distal hamstring injury at an altitude camp in St Moritz, Switzerland, earlier this month.
In another major blow for the Australian team, sprint star Lachlan Kennedy will also miss the September 13-21 world titles due to a stress fracture in his back.
In late May, the 21-year-old became only the second Australian to break the magical 10-second barrier for the 100m when he clocked 9.98 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi.
Kennedy's only run since then was a 10.07 effort at the Diamond League meet in Oregon on July 5.
His painful back problem has flared again in recent weeks, with further scans showing no improvement.
"Lachie was never going to go over to Tokyo just to pick up a tracksuit," said Kennedy's manager Nic Bideau.
"He's shown he can compete with the best this year with the 60m silver medal at the world indoors.
"He's got a very big three years coming up leading into the Los Angeles Olympics and we were never going to take any risks."
While a fully-fit Kennedy would have been targeting a spot in the 100m final in Tokyo, Montag was a genuine gold-medal contender in the 20km walk.
But when her hamstring problem returned in Switzerland, she and the Australian medical team decided surgery was the best option, due to the high likelihood of another recurrence of the injury.
"It's such a heart-sinking moment because I'd felt it before," she told AAP, in reference to a flare-up at a training camp in June.
"You've been hoping and praying throughout the rehab that you've got enough time, that you're simultaneously taking things slowly enough but also progressing quickly enough that you'll be good for the world championships when it matters.
"So feeling that sharp pain in the hammy for the second time was fairly heartbreaking."
Montag's injury is similar to that suffered by Australia's reigning Olympic pole vault champ Nina Kennedy earlier this year.
Kennedy has made good progress in her recovery, which has been a huge source of encouragement for Montag, who until this year has been mostly injury-free since bursting onto the scene with the first of two Commonwealth gold medals on the Gold Coast in 2018.
"It's been really helpful to watch Nina's progression over the last four months and even have a few messages with her yesterday," said Montag.
"She really reassured me that it is a 12-to-16 week rehab process and that her hamstring is now feeling better than ever.
"Like me, she felt nervous about the decision of whether or not to get the surgery.
"But she said it's definitely the right call and you'll feel even stronger than before you hurt it."
Although the withdrawals of Montag and Kennedy are heavy blows, there are still high hopes Australia will collect a swag of medals at the world titles, with the squad to be finalised early next week.
The other six medallists from the Paris Olympics will headline a team also including a host of young guns such as sprint sensation Gout Gout and middle-distance tyros Cameron Myers and Claudia Hollingsworth.
And after going under the knife on Tuesday, Montag has plenty of other things to occupy her mind for the remainder of the year.
She is midway through a post-graduate medical degree and is getting married in December.
