Drummond says Gay OK

Updated: July 15, 2008, 4:55 PM ET

ARLINGTON, Texas – Sprinter Tyson Gay is in Germany, resting, relaxing and getting ready for his next race – almost exactly like he planned before getting injured at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Gay sprained a muscle in the back of his left leg in a 200-meter qualifying race, a tumble that forced him to be carted off the track and ended his chances of winning two individual gold medals in Beijing.

“He’s fine,” his coach, Jon Drummond, said Tuesday. “He’s walking normal. There’s nothing to really be overly concerned about. I feel there’s no reason why he won’t be 100 percent at the Games.”

Gay will run in the 100 and the 400-meter relay in Beijing.

Before he was hurt, Gay already had qualified for the 100, running a wind-aided time of 9.68, the fastest ever. He also set the American record of 9.77 in a quarterfinal. But as the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200, he was aiming to sweep sprinting’s glory events on the biggest stage of all.

Now, he’s focused on his rehab.

Drummond said Gay still plans to race in London on July 25. The only change is he’s already in Europe getting acclimated to the time change and working with doctors on his rehabilitation.

Gay headed overseas early to get in four extra days of “active recovery” – as opposed to the lounging-around rest he would have needed had he run two more grueling heats in the 200.

“That’s the part I’m trying to get out there: It didn’t matter if he’d fallen or not. He was going to get 10 days of active recovery anyway,” Drummond said. "So we’ve just extended the 10 days to 14.

“The muscle is 100 percent by then, and everything else is back to business. We’re taking every necessary precaution, treating it like it is something serious, because the body needs that. You’ve got to pamper it sometimes. I’ve told him to go home and get your feet up, get the rubdowns.”

Drummond laughed, adding his only concern is Gay might be pampering himself with too many visits to fast-food restaurants.

“You can go once, maybe twice,” Drummond said. “But not every day.”

Yeah, I read this last night…but the title sounds so wrong lol…

But hey man, on the other hand, Gay can pamper himself and eat all the Big Macs he wants…he is gonna burn it out…Besides, he is a black man…He got that Afro metabolism where you will burn it in like 15 minutes…

Afro metabolism??

Didn’t know there was such a thing. Where can you het that?

Do they sell that at GNC?

I think you can mail order them from FastTwiches-R-Us. I got my afro jump muscle from them.

(When I was in first year University, a guy I lived with said that black guys have an extra jump muscle, which is why they jump higher than white guys.)

Good plan, good point! Drummond seems to take good care of his athlete(s).

Ten day recovery eh? Wonder where that comes from?