Michael Schrader to miss Rio Olympic Games

German medal hope Michael Schrader suffered fresh heartbreak after a horrific knee injury curtailed his Rio Olympics involvement.

The decathlete, a silver medalist at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, was training in the pole vault on Friday when his knee buckled and caused a tear of his patella tendon and ligament.

Schrader is now set to have surgery in Cologne on Monday before beginning his rehabilitation.

It is another blow for Schrader who missed the 2011 and 2013 World Championships, and the London Olympic Games in 2012 because of injury.

"I suffered an injury to my knee during training for the pole vault on Friday," he wrote on Facebook. "My patella tendon and ligament are torn. Tomorrow I will have operation at the hospital in Cologne.

"It is a major setback for me in this really important sporting year. Under the circumstances I am very sad to tell you this news.

"Nevertheless I will not hang my head and I will give everything to be back as soon as possible and to come back again."