DeBues-Stafford aims to be 'smart, patient' with injury recovery ahead of track worlds

Canadian middle-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford will be nursing an injury on Thursday instead of racing in Rome, where she hoped to build on an encouraging start to her outdoor season as the much-anticipated world championships near.

DeBues-Stafford said her sacroiliac (SI) joint, which is located in the pelvis and connects the hip bones to the lowest part of the spine above the tailbone, locked up during warmup and forced her to withdraw from Monday's 800 race at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands.

"It's nothing serious, knock on wood, but it's painful enough that racing didn't make sense," the Toronto native wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. "I made the tough call of pulling out of Rome too and coming home early to get [the injury] calmed down and sorted out.

"I have to be smart and patient to keep our eyes on the big prize."

Monday's Continental Tour event was meant as a tune-up for the Golden Gala Diamond League meet in Italy, DeBues-Stafford's last scheduled race before the June 23-26 Canadian championships in Langley, B.C. She is also hopeful of competing at her third outdoor world championships July 15-24 in Eugene, Ore.

Thursday's event begins at 2 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

The severity of the injury won't be determined until DeBues-Stafford arrives home in Victoria and has it examined but her agent, Dan Lilot, told CBC Sports he doesn't believe she will miss the national competition.

Thursday would have been her fourth appearance at Golden Gala and third in Rome as last year's event was relocated to Florence because the Stadio Olimpico was hosting European championship soccer games.

After finishing her Rome debut 11th in four minutes, 4.87 seconds, DeBues-Stafford