Kelly Sotherton to retire just two months before the London Olympics after the 35-year-old had an operation a little over a week ago to remove a piece of disc from her back.
Although she was told by her doctor she could be running again within six weeks, that schedule does not give her enough time to reach the qualifying standard before the British team is selected.
"I thanked (the doctor) for being optimistic but there's no chance. You have to know when to stop," Sotherton told the Mail on Sunday.
Sotherton, who returned to the heptathlon last year after quitting it in favour of the 400 metres in 2010, was competing at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge in Italy when the injury occurred.
She broke down in the 200metres and knew immediately the problem was serious enough to end her dream of one last hurrah at the 2012 Games.
Sotherton said: "As soon as it went I knew that was it. I could hardly walk and could hardly move. At that moment, I said, 'It's over'. I cried and I think it was hard for (therapist Paula Clayton) and (coach Aston Moore) to see because I was a gibbering wreck.
"I can laugh now. But I was red-faced and it was quite embarrassing leaving the track because I don't want people to see me like that."
Sotherton, a bronze medallist at Athens 2004, went to a spinal specialist who told her she needed surgery.
She added: "I had already prepared myself for what he would say and that rubber-stamped it. After that it was, 'okay, it's a relief now'."
Sotherton says she will now enjoy the Olympics as a fan and will be supporting Jessica Ennis, insisting that the rivalry between the two multi-eventers had always been misunderstood.
"If Jess was American or French, it wouldn't be so much of a bother but she's British and she was taking my fans," Sotherton said.
"Now I'm happy that she's British and I wouldn't really have meant that a couple of years ago. I'm glad she's doing it. I can watch the event now and get excited. I don't think it's as clear-cut as people think."
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