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Gay crashes out of 200m trials
EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) - World champion Tyson Gay's dream of an Olympics double ended in pain when he crashed out of the U.S. 200 meters quarter-finals on Saturday.
Already qualified for Beijing in the 100 meters, Gay had run only 12 strides, about 40 meters, of the 200 meters when he grabbed at his left hamstring and tumbled to track with a severe cramp.
He lay there for several minutes before he was taken away from the facility in a cart.
"Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring so I had kind of a bad feeling," Gay said in a statement.
"When I came off (the first part of) the curve the first two steps were fine, and then I felt it, sort of a pull, about 40 meters in," he added. "Once I was on the ground it didn't hurt as much as when it happened."
He went immediately to his hotel room to begin treatment with ice and compression.
"I'll just get it worked on for a few days," said Gay, who apparently suffered no other damage.
The injury was a major blow to the U.S. hopes in Beijing since under the strict qualifying procedure of the trials only the top three finishers make the Olympic team regardless of circumstances.
The stunning development was reminiscent of the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials where both 200 meters world record holder Michael Johnson and then Maurice Greene crashed out of the 200 meters final with injuries. Both missed the Sydney Games in the 200 meters, but won gold in their first-choice events.
Gay had won the 100 meters last Sunday in a wind-assisted time of 9.68 seconds, the fastest time ever run under any conditions. He had set the national record of 9.77 seconds the previous day.
He then cruised through the opening round of 200 meters on Friday with no problems.
The U.S. also lost 1996 Olympic 110-metres hurdles champion Allen Johnson to injury on a costly day.
The 37-year-old Johnson cleared only four hurdles in the opening round before succumbing to a season-ending tendon injury.
(Editing by Miles Evans)
(For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)
