PHOTO
Mahe Drysdale has revealed he has arthiritis but the champion single sculler says his goal of competing in London next year in search of an elusive Olympics gold medal to go with his four world titles remains intact for the moment.
Drysdale, 32, told Radio New Zealand this morning he has had to make changes to his training programme after the condition developed.
He has recovered from a disc problem which troubled him last year but has experienced further back problems because of arthritis with pain building up when he did a full week of rowing.
He is now looking at spending less time on the water and more on cross training - a recipe he is confident will take him to the next Olympics.
Drysdale won a bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a silver medal at last year's world championships on Lake Karapiro.