Bryan Clay has withdrawn from the World Championships in Daegu citing a minor knee injury.
“I have come to a decision to withdraw from Daegu because I feel that I would be at less than my best. I am not interested in just competing anymore, I want to win medals every time I compete and based on the way my knee has been over the past 6 weeks I feel that I would not be in my top form,” said Clay from his Glendora, California home.
Clay, who fell in the 110m Hurdles at the US Champs and did not finish the decathlon, had developed tendonitis in his knee. The tendonitis had been manageable until his training reached new intensity levels as he prepared for Daegu.
Clay’s long time Coach Kevin Reid said: “Bryan is as fit and as strong as he’s ever been, but the knee is limiting how much return he gets out of the track. We went into the Thorpe Cup 100m with a mindset of gauging where he was at and to decide if it made sense to make an attempt at the World Championships.” Clay ran 10.82 in San Diego at the Thorpe Cup far from his 10.35 personal best from last year.
“To be honest, the decision was easy” said Clay’s manager, Paul Doyle. “Bryan has really not put a lot of emphasis on this season as he has a much bigger goal in the works for next year. Bryan already has 7 global medals, 4 of which are gold, but Bryan’s last real goal for his career is to earn a 3rd Olympic medal and become the only man in history to have done so.”
Clay won Silver in Athens 2004 and Gold in Beijing 2008, in 2010 he had the highest score in the World in the Decathlon. If he wins a medal in London in 2012 he will become the first decathlete ever to win 3 Olympic medals.
There are certain people like Tyson Gay and Lolo Jones who have had surgery and some others, like Clay and Jeremy Wariner, who have been injured most of the season. But there’s something else that a bunch of pro athletes are talking about and a reason why people are actually posting lists of late withdrawals this year, but we can’t discuss it here:
Clay is living the life… I know the area where he lives and trains. A few of the guys I knew trained at the same place he did (Azusa pacific university). It’s so beautiful around that area (ie, mountains/ sunsets).
Off limits yadayada…just want to point something out. Bryan Clay is staying in the blood testing pool at his own request even though he is not competing. Just wanted to say.