Kirt sustained an injury to his throwing shoulder on his penultimate throw of the 2019 Doha World Championships, but had already clinched silver on his second of six attempts, with 86.21 metres.

Kirt's silver medal and subsequent injury, dubbed by some as the "national shoulder", arrived on the same October weekend that saw Ott Tänak winning Rally Wales, marking an excellent week for Estonian sports, heightened by Tänak winning the WRC title in Spain later that month.

It was Kirt, however, who took the sportsman of the year award at year end.

Kirt told ERR on Monday that: "We have trained and thrown in a way that would have allowed me to be ready as quickly as possible, but we're just not ready to compete yet. There's no need to make any excuses, we're just not ready to compete at a high level yet."

"It's been a new and different experience for me. I have not done anything but train until now. We will try to maintain that rhythm until the second half of September, and then take a traditional vacation period, leading to a preparatory period, as per usual."

Regardless of the injury, Kirt noted that he is still optimistic. "I would admit it if I felt I could not return to my former level. I would not want to fool anyone, and would be honest if I couldn't throw any more. Until I believe that, we'll continue working to be ready for competition next season."

Kirt previously pulled out of the Estonian Athletics Championships in early-August.

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