US runner-up Edmunds to miss worlds due to foot injury

BOSTON (AP) - U.S. runner-up Polina Edmunds has withdrawn from next week's world figure skating championships because of a bone bruise in her right foot.

Mirai Nagasu will take her place, U.S. Figure Skating announced Wednesday.

The injury limits Edmunds' ability to tap with her right foot and perform lutz and flip jumps. She said in a statement that "I don't want to compete at the world championships without performing my hardest technical elements."

After some tough luck in recent years, Nagasu gets a chance to compete at worlds for the first time since 2010. She was fourth at the Vancouver Olympics as a 16-year-old, then largely struggled for the next several years. She rebounded to finish third at the 2014 U.S. Championships but was bumped off the Sochi Olympic team for Ashley Wagner.

At this year's U.S. Championships, Nagasu finished fourth after her boot tore during her short program. She'll join Wagner and reigning U.S. champion Gracie Gold in Boston, where the women's short program will be held next Thursday.

The 17-year-old Edmunds was eighth at last year's world championships.

Edmunds is the second U.S. skater to withdraw from worlds because of injury. Nathan Chen, the third-place finisher on the men's side, will miss worlds because of a hip injury.