China's world sprint skating champion Yu Jing had to withdraw from the Sochi Winter Olympic Games due to a waist injury, an Olympic official confirmed on Thursday.

The 28-year-old skater, who won the women's 500m champion at the World Championships in Nagano of Japan in January of this year, was scheduled to compete in the women's 500m and 1,000m in Sochi, Russia.

"Yu suffered a recurrent waist injury about two weeks after she won the World Championships in Nagano," said Alexander Kibalko, an International Skating Union (ISU) technical official, who confirmed that Yu would not be competing in Sochi.

Yu also won the 500m champion at the Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan in 2011, and the 500m champion in the 2011-12 World Championships in Canada.

Yu's absence adds to the setbacks for China's Olympic team, having already lost short track speed skater Wang Meng from the Sochi Games due to a broken ankle. The absence of 28-year-old Wang meant a bitter blow for China, as she took three of the national team's five gold medals at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

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