Concerns raised about Jamaican sprint star’s fitness
Multiple world sprint champion Usain Bolt is gradually taking on the role of the underdog in the run-up to the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in China next month.
The Jamaican sensation’s sudden withdrawal from the Paris (France) and Lausanne (Switzerland) Diamond League meetings this week has heightened concerns about his fitness levels going into the global championship in Beijing.
The six-time Olympic champion missed the recent Jamaican National Senior Championships and is currently receiving treatment in Munich, Germany, for a troublesome pelvis injury.
In comparison, his US sprint rivals Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, as well as his compatriot Asafa Powell, have been burning up the track with fast times.
Eight-time world champion Bolt, however, has yet to dip under 10 seconds in the 100m or break 20 seconds in his specialist 200m.
Even Anaso Jobodwana – with a season-best time of 20.04 – has run faster than Bolt’s mark of 20.29 in the 200m.
Akani Simbine’s 9.99-second win in Slovenia this week, as well as Henricho Bruintjies’ season best of 10.06, are also quicker than Bolt’s season best of 10.12 in the 100m.
Gatlin is currently the world’s fastest man over the 100m and 200m dash. He ran personal bests of 9.74 seconds in the 100m and 19.57 in the 200m this year. Powell boasts a season best of 9.84 in the 100m and Gay clocked 9.87 at the US Track and Field Championships last Sunday.
Bolt was due to race at the Paris Diamond League, which took place last night, but then suddenly announced his withdrawal from the event – as well as the Lausanne one on Thursday.
His last race was the Diamond leg of the Adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 13.
With Bolt out of action, Gatlin and Gay are heading into their last big build-up at the global track and field meeting in China from August 22-30.
Expectations are high that Gatlin and co might be in good enough shape to dethrone Bolt, who has held all but one (the 100m) short sprint titles since he burst on to the scene at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, Germany.
Bolt and Gatlin have not competed against each other since the Jamaican ace beat the American to the 100m gold medal at Moscow’s global championships in August 2013.
The two sprinters would have avoided each other at the Switzerland Diamond meeting on Thursday, as Gatlin entered the 100m against Powell and Gay.
The USA, a one-time dominant force in men’s sprinting, have not won a short-sprint title since Gay’s 100m and 200m double victory in 2007.
Talk to us: What will it take for US sprinters to dethrone Usain Bolt as the world champion?