Reigning Olympic 100-meter and 200-meter champion Usain Bolt may have trouble defending those titles. Bolt, a six-time Olympic gold medalist who also holds the world record in both the 100m and 200m events and won both events at last year’s world championships in Beijing, withdrew from the 100m final in the Jamaican Olympic Trials Friday night. Bolt then explained his departure on Twitter:
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 2, 2016
Bolt can still make the Jamaican team without winning at the trials, as their athletics selection policy allows for medical exemptions. If anyone would seem likely to get one, he would, given both his legendary past accomplishments and how dominant he’s continued to be in recent years (he won gold in both the 100m and 200m at both the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, and won his semifinal heat in these trials).
However, that’s a tougher road than just earning his way in through the trials, and Bolt will still have to prove that he’s healthy. The NIH’s Medline Plus says a Grade 1 hamstring tear can heal in a few days, so this may not knock him out, but this is still an unexpected bump in the road to Rio for one of the world’s most-famed athletes. Bolt has indicated he’s already working on his recovery, though:
Starting the recovery process right away. pic.twitter.com/J0HuvxOfiJ
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 2, 2016
