Usain Bolt withdrew Tuesday from this month’s Diamond League meetings in Paris and Lausanne with an injured left leg, dealing a blow to his title defense preparations for the world championships in August.
Bolt’s last race was a 200 meters in New York on June 13 that he described as ”really bad.” His time of 20.29 was more than a second off his world record of 19.19. He said then that he felt good physically and was bewildered why he ran what he called ”probably one of the worst turns I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
Bolt also was a no-show at the Jamaica trials last week where he had been expected to sharpen his sprinting form against the likes of Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake.
Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, said then that the 100- and 200-meter world record holder was never certain to run at the trials and suggested that Bolt’s coach, Glen Mills, instead preferred him to train rather than race ahead of the Paris meet on Saturday and the Lausanne event on July 9.
Bolt’s doctor in Munich, Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, diagnosed a blocked joint ”which is restricting his movement and putting pressure on his knee and ankle,” the statement on Bolt’s website said.
It said Bolt will spend the next couple of days in Munich getting treatment ”after which he will resume full training in his quest to defend his titles” in the 100 and 200 at the world championships in Beijing.
