LONDON (AP) – Sprinter Tyson Gay withdrew from the London Grand Prix on Wednesday, insisting the hamstring he injured at the U.S. Olympic trials won’t rule him out of next month’s Beijing Games.
Gay was due to race against Jamaica’s former world record-holder Asafa Powell in the 100 meters on Friday but said he wasn’t taking any risks on the left leg.
“I was really looking forward to getting back on the track again, and training has been going well,” said Gay, who was undergoing treatment in Germany. “I held out hope to run London, but progress has been steady and with the first round of the Olympic 100 meters just three weeks away, I don’t want to risk doing anything to set things back.”
Doctors on Wednesday assessed Monday’s MRI, which showed a mild strain in the semi tendinosus muscle, and said it was healing well.
“The decision does not affect Gay’s plans for Beijing, by which time he is expected to be fully recovered,” Gay’s agent Mark Wetmore said.
Gay had already qualified for the 100 when he sprained a muscle in the back of his left leg in the 200 at the trials, a tumble that forced him to be carted off the track and ended his chances of winning two individual gold medals in Beijing.
Not sure what to think:
1:He should never have planned to make his first race back a high-pressure test against Powell or Bolt. The first race back should be against a low calibre field.
2: We can’t know if he ever intended to return to this particular race because he’d be under enormous pressure from the promoters NOT to announce a withdrawal till the last instant to avoid killing ticket sales, even if he’d already told them he wasn’t going to open up there.
3: It would be difficult for Gay to pull out of London and then show up at a low key meet right away after, so time is running out till he needs to enter the 10 day taper period. Maybe he can get something in a week’s time but that’s about it.
4: We can’t know the true state of his recovery and two weeks is a long time not to be running at all, but, if he’s with Wolfhart, he’s in excellent hands.
i believe tyson really wanted to run this race. i don’t think he’s ever backed down from competition. plus, he’s been scheduled to run this race for a while. if anything he was using this last week of training to get a definitive answer on whether he’ll run in london or not. it sucks for all of us though, because it obviously would’ve been a great showdown
I still would have great reservations about exposing Tyson to such a test so soon after the injury. The time off indicates a fairly severe issue based on what I know of how quickly Wolfhart can get people back in action. I also think his experience with top level competition could allow him to be ready even if he doesn’t race again (at least officially- see the article on Liu) before the main event. Physical recovery is the key.