Usain Bolt out of the running in Jamaica
Usain Bolt out: Olympic gold medal winner, Usain Bolt, has pulled out of Saturday's Jamaica International Invitational meet. Bolt has a minor injury.
Jamaican Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt runs to win the "Mano a Mano" Men's 150m challenge on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, March 31, 2013. Bolt pulled out of Saturday's meet in Jamaica due to a hamstring strain.
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Kingston
Six-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has been ruled out of Saturday's Jamaica International Invitational meeting because of a slight hamstring strain, his agent said on Tuesday.
The 100- and 200-meter world record holder felt tightness in training over the weekend and in consultation with Coach Glen Mills decided not to risk anything at this early stage of the season, agent Ricky Simms told Reuters.
"It's a small strain and he's hoping to be OK for next week but you know it's day by day ... maybe for the two or three days. It just a problem of sprinting," Simms said in a telephone interview.
Asked if the injury was serious, Simms replied: "No. He hopes to be running in Cayman by next week, so it's what you call a grade one strain, which is you can't sprint, but you can walk OK. He's not limping or anything."
Bolt was scheduled to run his first 200 meters of the season against Jamaican Olympic bronze medalist Warren Weir and American Wallace Spearmon in the meeting.
His next scheduled race is a 100 meter run in the May 8 Cayman Islands meeting.
"I am disappointed to miss the Kingston meet as I love running in front of my home crowd in Jamaica," Bolt said in a statement. "I'm told it is only a grade one strain so hopefully I will be OK soon."
Bolt started his season in style on March 31 on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach with a 14.42 seconds clocking over 150 meters on the purpose-built track. (Editing by Frank Pingue)