The promising youngster has been ailed by an injury to his core for the past 15 months and the problem recently flared up to the extent that he had to pull the pin on this season.
‘‘Because it's been ongoing for quite a while, I needed to pretty much stop and get it right first, rather than nursing it through.''
The problem was so bad it had brought a premature end to the 22-year-old's 400m career.
He now planned to focus on 800m running and would relocate from Dunedin to Christchurch at the start of June to team up with new coach Terry Lomax.
Whyte had been coached in Dunedin by Brent Ward.
‘‘I've trained in Dunedin for the last four years and haven't got where I wanted.
‘‘I just wanted that change of environment and [to] mix things up a little bit.''
Whyte, who grew up on a farm near Clinton, said he decided to move to Christchurch because there were more middle-distance runners there and the city was more suitable for 800m runners.
He powered through the Perth Track Classic a month ago, despite being sore before the race, but that effort proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
He made the decision to end his season and begin rehabilitation work just before the Queensland Track Classic in Brisbane a week later.
Whyte was suffering from tendonitis in his psoas, a muscle in the stomach that connects the spine to the femur.
He had been having more regular issues with it since January.
The injury was brought on by intense speed work and there would be less of that in 800m running, Whyte said.
‘‘It's something different, and probably just more suited to me.
‘‘I keep getting injured with the whole speed-based stuff so the training will be a bit easier on the body.''
While it was disappointing to have to relinquish his Olympic dream, the writing had been on the wall for a while, he said.
‘‘I think I could tell I wasn't running that good.
‘‘I hadn't raced much from January onwards because of injuries.''
He hoped to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo instead, he said.
Before getting back on the track, Whyte planned to travel to New York and Toronto for a month to complete personal training courses as part of his Diploma in Soma Training.
He would travel there twice a year for the next two years to complete the qualification, he said.
He was also completing his master's degree in sports science extramurally through Massey University in Auckland.
