Six-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has withdrawn from the Jamaican national athletics championships, but says he still hopes to compete in the Rio Games.
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It is hoped the treatment Muller-Wohlfahrt administers will ensure Bolt is ready to compete at the Anniversary Games in London, which starts on July 22, and the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) are eager to see him involved in that fixture.
“But insane things happen in Olympic years, so we’ll see what happens”, added Gatlin, who launched his Olympic qualification bid with an opening time of 10.03 seconds to comfortably win his 100-meters heat on Saturday. Unlike the US, which relies on times posted at the trials to select its Olympic team, the Jamaican selection process allows for medical exemptions in a situation where an injury prevents an athlete from participating.
The 100m and 200m world record holder was examined following his 100m semi and confirmed injured by medical personnel at the championships before leaving to receive immediate treatment on the injury.
When Usain Bolt is at his best he has shown the world what he is capable of. But the world’s fastest man still has the opportunity to represent Jamaica in Rio.
Just as he did four years ago, Blake is going to the Olympics as Jamaica’s national champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
The Rio Olympics are set to run from August 7-21.
JAAA rules allow injured athletes ranked in the top three on the IAAF performance list to miss the selection trials and be placed on the Olympic squad, but they must prove their fitness in time to be included.
“I’m just smiling”, Minzie said.
And his chances might have gotten better when two-time defending Olympic champion Usain Bolt pulled out of the Jamaica national championships with a hamstring injury on Friday.
“I’ve had an unbelievable career”, the three-time Olympian said. After he won his semifinal heat Friday evening he felt pain again and saw a doctor, who diagnosed the tear.
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Bolt seemed to be looking at the clock at the end of his semifinal, which he won in 10.04 seconds and capped by giving runner-up Senoj-Jay Givans – his closest pursuer – a knowing smirk as they crossed the line. “Now that I’m with my favorite coach, I think I can only go up”. (He ran 9.85 to finish second to Bolt’s 9.77.) Gatlin said, “I had a grade 1 hamstring tear and I just wrapped it up with an ace bandage”.
