Another of the big names standing between Australian Jana Rawlinson and Olympic gold is set to miss the Beijing Games, with 400m hurdles world record-holder Yuliya Pechonkina battling a heart problem.

Pechonkina's coach, Valentin Maslakov, who is also the Russian head coach, said the star had just about run out of time to recover before next month's Games.

''I don't think she'll be able to recover in time and compete in Beijing,'' Maslakov said yesterday, hinting that the Russian was considering retirement.

''She started having health problems in April.

''She first had sinusitis, then which is much more serious heart problems.''

Pechonkina, 30, won the world title in 2005 in Helsinki, having finished second behind Rawlinson in 2001 and 2007, and third in 2003.

The Russian, who also competed under her maiden name Nosova, had a disappointing 2004 Olympics, finishing last in the 400m hurdles final.

Greek hurdler Fani Halkia won gold in Athens, while Rawlinson was fifth after suffering a knee injury a couple of weeks before the Games.

Americans Lashinda Demus and Christine Spence, first and third on the world rankings this year, finished behind the top three automatic qualifiers at last week's cut-throat US trials, ruling them out for Beijing.

Rawlinson returned to competition last week for the first time since toe surgery in February, finishing second at a Polish meet in 55.94sec, behind local star Anna Jesien.

''After such a long time since my last race it was a great feeling to get out on the track again, but it certainly wasn't a great race in terms of my execution,'' Rawlinson said.

''I messed up a few hurdles and have a couple of other areas of my race that need a lot of work.''

Jesien, the bronze medallist at last year's world championships, is also set to figure high in Beijing medal calculations.

Pechonkina set the world record of 52.34 in 2003, beating American Kim Batten's eight-year-old mark of 52.61. AAP