It would certainly open the field for athletes from the U.S.to have a chance at Olympic gold.
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Yohan Blake won Jamaica’s men’s 100 metres Olympic trials in 9.95 seconds on Friday after world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt pulled out minutes before the final with a hamstring injury.
“Today, I told myself this was going to prove how bad you want to be on the team”, Sinclair said.
Provided Usain Bolt can heal from his hamstring injury and be deemed fit to compete, he will likely be chosen by the Selection Committee.
When asked about Usain Bolt and whether the Olympics needed Bolt, Merritt said, “Do we need him? No”. Other qualifiers for long jump were 2012 Olympic champion Brittney Reese, whose jump of 23 feet, 113/4 inches was the longest of 2016, and Janay DeLoach.
Bolt was injured in the lead-up to world championships a year ago, but nonetheless edged Gatlin in the 100 and blew by him in the 200. A Grade 1 Achilles tendon sprain suffered in May prevented him from competing at meets in Birmingham, England, and Oslo, Norway.
Blake, who finished second to Bolt at the London Games in the 100, said he was confident that the world record-holder will be in Rio. Not so bashful was fellow American Olympic hopeful Mike Rodgers, who insists he hopes to get a crack at Bolt at his best.
“God is alive. A lot of people didn’t think I’d be back but watch here, I am”, an elated Blake said.
Merritt said of his run, “I wanted to run a little faster, but considering what they ran in the first round (heat) hopefully they exhausted themselves out a little bit”.
That means a tight 20-day recovery period, something not lost on Bolt. Gatlin cruised to a victory in his first-round heat on Saturday, finishing in 10.03 seconds.
Unlike the United States, where the first three finishers in the trials win Olympic berths, Jamaica’s selection policy allows medical exemptions.
According to Reuters, Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president Mike Fennell said he expects to receive a final list of Jamaica’s Rio Olympics contenders next week.
The difference in philosophy is most apparent in the fate of Allyson Felix, the U.S.’s most decorated female sprinter.
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Meanwhile, Sanya Richards-Ross will not defend her 400m title in Rio after pulling out of the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. “When you come to a championship not everyone is going to be healthy but you’re expected to perform”, he said.
