Injured Usain Bolt Pulls Out Of Diamond League

The BBC is reporting that double world record holder Usain Bolt has withdrawn from his final race before London 2012 after suffering a "slight" injury.

The 25-year-old Bolt was scheduled to run the 200 metres at the Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 20.

However, the three-time Olympic gold medallist has withdrawn so he can undergo treatment.

His coach, Glen Mills, is quoted as saying he wanted to give Bolt sufficient time for treatment and time to train and prepare for the Olympic Games.

Despite the withdrawal, Bolt said he will be in London to defend his three Olympic titles, which also includes the 100 metres and the 4 by 100-metre relay gold he won in Beijing four years ago.

The world record-holder had his right hamstring stretched out on the track after finishing second to Yohan Blake in the 200 metres at the Jamaican Olympic trials last weekend.

Bolt was also beaten by world champion Blake in the 100 metres at the Jamaican trials.

Taken from: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=38348

Clash Of The Fastest Injured Sprinters

The Aviva Diamond League clash of the injured will take place in London on July 13 where Asaf Powell will go up against Tyson Gay. Powell who hobbled off the track after finishing third in last week's Olympic Trials, will go up against a resurgent Gay, who came back from hip surgery to finish second to Justin Gatlin in the American trials.


According to the Jamaica Observer Both men indicated that they are contented with their health and promised the London fans a treat.


"I'm looking forward to coming back to Crystal Palace for the Aviva London Grand Prix. I felt great two years ago and hope to feel the same this year. I haven’t raced much this year and I'm feeling better each time out there on the track. My body is getting closer to where I want it to be. I’ve shown over the years that through all of the injuries, I'm a fighter, and I hope to be fighting for that Olympic gold in London later this summer," Gay said.
Powell, has equalled his world record of 9.77 in Gateshead in 2006 and is looking to repeat that good form next week Friday. "I've got some good memories from the London Diamond League event. I want to pick up where I started here and come away with a good, fast win. This is a big year for me. I'm not getting any younger but there’s a lot more to come from me. I've learned a lot from past major championships. I don't take anything for granted and I’m working as hard as ever. I know that I'm capable of running 9.8, 9.7, 9.6, so all that I'm focusing on is myself," Powell said.


Included in the field are Jamaicans Nesta Carter and Lerone Clarke along with the evergreen Kim Collins of St Kitts.

Who is Veronica Campbell-Brown?

  

Veronica Campbell-Brown C.D (born 15 May 1982) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Jamaica. 

A five-time Olympic medalist, she is the reigning World and Olympic 200 m champion. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she ran the 200 m in 21.74 seconds (the fastest time in a decade) and became the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m events, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany did so at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. Campbell-Brown is one of only seven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva, Jana Pittman, and Dani Samuels) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.

Early life

Campbell was born to Cecil Campbell and Pamella Bailey[3] in Clarks Town, Trelawny, Jamaica on 15 May 1982. She has nine brothers and sisters and attended Vere Technical High School in Clarendon before pursuing higher education in the United States.

Junior career

In 1999, she won two gold medals, the 100 m and 4 x 100 m relay at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships. The following year, she became the first female to win the sprint double at the IAAF World Junior Championships. She took the 100 m in 11.12 s (the current championship record) and the 200 m in 22.87 s. At the 2000 Olympic Games, she ran the second leg on the silver medal winning 4 x 100 m relay team. In 2001, she was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 2001 CARIFTA Games. That year, she won 3 gold medals (100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay) in the junior (U-20) category.

College career

Campbell attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, where she set several records and won many titles, including four national junior college titles in the 60, 100 and 200 metres both indoors and outdoors. She set the current record for Barton County CC in the outdoor 100 m and 200 m. Campbell also excelled in academics, earning an associates degree from Barton County in 2002 with a 3.8 grade average. She later attended the University of Arkansas, where she stood out as a sprint star in a program dominated by long-distance runners.

Professional career

Campbell-Brown ran at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 4 x 100 m relay along with Tayna Lawrence, Beverly McDonald, Merlene Frazer and sprint veteran and Olympic legend, Merlene Ottey. They finished second in the finals in a time of 42.13, behind neighbours, Bahamas which gave 18 year old Campbell-Brown her first Olympic medal.

At the 2004 Olympics, Campbell first placed third in the 100 m and two days later won the 200 m, beating out Allyson Felix of the United States. She later teamed up with Aleen Bailey, Tayna Lawrence, and Sherone Simpson to win the 4 x 100 m relay race.

In August 2005, Campbell won the silver medal in the 100 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics as well as another silver medal in the 4 x 100 m relay (together with Daniele Browning, Aleen Bailey and Sherone Simpson).

At the 2007 World Championships, Campbell won three medals with a gold in the 100 m, a silver in the 200 m (second to Felix) and a silver in the 4 x 100 m relay.

At the 2008 Jamaican Olympic trials, she finished fourth in the 100 m, thereby missing the qualifying requirement to automatically make the Jamaican Olympic roster for that event. She clocked 10.88 s in the final, which is the second fastest time ever for a fourth place finish. She however bounced back to take the 200 m final in a personal best of 21.94 s. Failing to qualify for the 100 m, she only competed in the 200 m and the 4 x 100 m relay at the Olympic Games. At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, Veronica Campbell-Brown carried the Jamaican flag during the Athletes' Parade. She successfully defended her Olympic 200 m title in a new personal best time of 21.74 s. She competed at the 4 x 100 m relay together with Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sheri-Ann Brooks and Aleen Bailey. In the first round heats, Jamaica placed first in front of Russia, Germany and China. The Jamaican teams' time of 42.24 s was the first time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result, Jamaica qualified for the final, replacing Brooks and Bailey with Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Jamaica did not finish the race due to a mistake in the baton exchange.

At the end of the 2008 season, Campbell-Brown was selected the top 200 m runner in the world as well as the fourth best in the 100 m (following three other Jamaicans) by Track and Field News. She also finished eighth overall in voting for the magazine's Woman of the Year.

She qualified for her third World Championships by winning the 200 m national title. She beat runners up Shelly Ann Fraser and Simone Facey with a time of 22.40 seconds in June 2009, although a toe injury had left her lacking full fitness. At the 2009 World Championships Campbell-Brown was fourth in the 100 m final behind teammates Fraser and Stewart. She then won her second World 200 m silver behind American Allyson Felix. She closed the season at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, recording her fastest of the year (10.89) to take second behind Carmelita Jeter, who became the second fastest ever with 10.64 seconds. Although she was beaten by Jeter, Campbell-Brown was the fourth fastest 100 m sprinter overall that season.

In 2011 Veronica Campbell-Brown won the Jamaican athletic trials in both the 100 & 200 m and was one of the favorites for both gold medals at the world championships in Daegu. At the championships she won the silver medal in the women's 100 m in 10.98 behind Jeter, who won in 10.90. She later went on to win her first 200 m world title in a timer of 22.22, beating out Jeter and Felix who were second and third respectively.

Personal life

In 2007, Campbell married Omar Brown, a fellow Jamaican sprinter and University of Arkansas alumnus. They currently live and train in Clermont, Florida. She was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in late 2009, and stated that she would use the role to promote gender equity in sport.

Achievements

Campbell-Brown's personal best of 10.76 s in the 100 m ranks her all-time top ten in the world (9th place) and fourth among Jamaican women. Her 200 m best (21.74 s) ranks her in the all-time top ten in the world. This time is the third best among Jamaican women. It is the fastest time of the 21st Century, and the fastest since Marion Jones's 21.62 s in Johannesburg 1998.

Who is Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce?

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, (born December 27, 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter, who specializes in the 100 m. Born in Kingston, Jamaica. 

Fraser is the reigning Olympic champion over 100 m, clocking a time of 10.78.[2] The 2009 World 100 m champion, she is only the second female sprinter to hold both World and Olympic 100 m titles simultaneously (after Gail Devers), and is the fourth fastest woman in history over 100 m with a time of 10.70 seconds.[3] She attended the Wolmer's High School for Girls and represented her school in many athletic occasions.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Fraser, who trained for the Olympics with teammate Asafa Powell, became the first Jamaican woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 m sprint. In her first round heat, she placed first in a time of 11.35 to advance to the second round. She then improved her time to 11.06 seconds, finishing first in her heat. In the semifinals Fraser again finished in front, outsprinting Kerron Stewart and Muna Lee in 11.00 seconds.

In the final, Jamaican sprinters finished in the top three positions in the race, with a photographic tie for second place by Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. (Both women were awarded silver medals; no bronze medal was awarded). Fraser's time of 10.78 seconds was a personal best and 0.20 seconds faster than her Jamaican teammates. Fraser's Olympic time was the second-fastest 100 m ever recorded by a Jamaican woman, a mere 0.04 seconds (1/25 of a second) shy of Merlene Ottey's 10.74 record.

Together with Sheri-Ann Brooks, Aleen Bailey and Veronica Campbell-Brown, Fraser also took part in the 4 x 100 m relay. In its first round heat, Jamaica placed first in front of Russia, Germany and China. The Jamaica relay's time of 42.24 seconds was the first time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result, Jamaica qualified for the final, replacing Brooks and Bailey with Simpson and Stewart. Jamaica did not finish the race due to a mistake in the baton exchange.

2009 Berlin World Championships

Fraser (right) celebrating victory in Berlin with Kerron Stewart

Fraser took the 100 m Jamaican title in June 2009, winning with a world-leading time of 10.88 s against a strong headwind (−1.5 m/s). This made her the number one Jamaican qualifier for the 2009 World Championships. Fraser took full advantage, holding off a late surge (and personal best) from compatriot Kerron Stewart, who had a slow start, to win by two one-hundredths of a second in a time of 10.73. – the fourth fastest time in the event's history and a Jamaican national record.

She later ran the second leg on the Jamaican 4x 100 m relay team. Fraser ran an outstanding back-straight, outrunning athletes like Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, Anne Mollinger of Germany and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago, with a successful change over to Aleen Bailey. The Jamaican team eventually claimed the gold medal in a time of 42.06 with the Bahamas claiming silver and Germany claiming bronze.

2010: Off-the-track

Fraser was named as the first UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Jamaica on February 22. On February 23, she was named Grace Goodwill Ambassador for Peace for 2010 in a partnership with Grace Foods and not-for-profit Organisation PALS (Peace and Love in Society). On May 23, at the Shanghai meet in the IAAF Diamond League, Fraser tested positive for a banned substance after using medication for toothache. In October 2010, she was subsequently suspended for six months.

2012 JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Championships for the Olympics

In the women's 100, defending Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won in a Jamaican-record 10.70 seconds -- equaling the seventh-fastest time ever -- with Veronica Campbell-Brown in second and Kerron Stewart third. Fraser-Pryce's form hadn't been great for much of this year, but she got back into the flow with a 10.92 in New York earlier this month. She won easily over Campbell-Brown, who finished 0.12 seconds behind, at 10.82.

"I always had faith because of my training," Fraser-Pryce said. "I came out here to do my best. I did my best. It worked out. I'm going to the Olympics."

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce completed the sprint double posting a blistering personal best of 22.10 seconds to win the women’s 200m title at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Championships.

VIDEO: J'cans urged not to pressure athletes for London Olympics

Technical leader of the Jamaican team, former Olympic 200m champion Donald Quarrie

OFFICIALS of the local technical coaching team to the London Olympic Games are urging track and field fans to moderate their medal expectations of the Jamaican athletes despite a number of outstanding performances at last weekend's JAAA/Supreme Ventures' National Senior Trials at the National Stadium.

Early expectations are that the Jamaican athletes should surpass the 11 medals — six gold, three silver and two bronze — won at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, when double sprint champion Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Veronica Campbell Brown, referred to as VCB, led the charge that left the world talking about Jamaica.

Yesterday, technical leader of the Jamaican team, former Olympic 200m champion Donald Quarrie, noted that "we are expecting to get quite a few medals" based on the "outstanding championships (which gives an) expectation of what is to come." However, he cautioned that we should be careful of "overdoing things".

Speaking at the weekly Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue offices, Quarrie said not only are our fans excited, but other athletes from other countries were also looking on and would be motivated by what they saw as well.

"They saw the performances and the crowds. They saw the joy on the faces of our athletes, and that overflows," he pointed out.

Quarrie, who took a break from national duties for last year's IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, warned that "we are going to have to be aware that we don't overdo ourselves by expecting too much. My philosophy is that I will count each medal after we get them; and we are expected to get quite a few".

He said that the pressure on the athletes will be tremendous, given that "we will be in London and there will be a lot of Jamaicans around". In addition, he pointed out that many journalists will be seeking to interview the team.

The athletes, he said, would be shielded from all this to the extent that one day — a light training day at the camp in Birmingham — will be reserved for the media. However, he warned that extensive interviews will not be allowed, as an official team press conference will also be held in London.

Quarrie said the advice to the athletes, especially those who will be competing at the Olympics for the first time, is to "focus on their preparation, focus on what you have to do and the best that you can and let the medals count themselves".

He said that the pressure from outside has already started to mount as the "feedback so far is that Jamaica is the team to watch, but we know we are going to have a lot of competition; rivalry in sprint is going to be fierce", Quarrie predicted, adding that six lanes in the August 5 men's 100m finals could be occupied by runners from Jamaica and the USA.

Maurice Wilson, a member of the coaching staff and the head coach to Daegu last year, concurred with Quarrie and said based on what he saw last week, "the times in the men's 100m final in London could go into cartoonish realms".

Wilson, who guided Holmwood Technical girls to multiple Girls' Championship titles and is in charge of Sprint Tech Track Club and the GC Foster Sports College track team, said Yohan Blake's blazing 9.75 seconds run in the 100m at the trials on Friday night — the leading time in the world so far — and performances from the top US men were an indication of the fast times that were to come.

Wilson reasoned that "based on recollection, when Bolt ran his World Record 9.58 seconds he was not running 9.75 seconds" at this time of the year.

Additionally, he said American champion Justin Gatlin's 9.80 seconds and Tyson Gay running under 9.90 seconds, in only his second meet of the year, suggested they will run faster come early August.

"Most times these guys will run much faster at the championships, so we expect phenomenal performances," Wilson said.

Throwing an improving Asafa Powell into the mix, he said things will get even more interesting. "We heard Asafa was hurt last weekend and he still ran excellent times. We saw his execution in the semi-finals (where he ran 9.92 seconds to beat Blake) and this shows he has improved in his mental approach to races," said Wilson.

But even with all this, Wilson said the fans must put their expectations in perspective.

"I am not going to make any predictions either, as we all need to understand that Jamaica is not the only team that will be in London. We have good coaches and naturally talented athletes, but the resources available to the USA athletes, for example, could give them an added edge, not in their performance, but making them that bit more comfortable," he said.

Wilson thinks, however, that the Jamaican sprinters are going to "do extremely well", and pointed to Fraser-Pryce's sprint double, including a National Record 10.70 seconds in the 100m and personal best 22.10 seconds in the 200m to make his point.

"Shelly-Ann has laid down the gauntlet, and we can't write off VCB who always gets it right when it matters most," said Wilson.

He said the USA Trials had been "competitive" and hailed Allison Felix's superb 21.69 seconds in the 200m, calling it "something special". However, he said we must "take each day one step at a time before counting medals, and this is the frame of mind we have to take into the camp, then to the Olympics".

The Jamaican Olympics Trials have come and gone, here is what London 2012 Olympics have to say about Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

London 2012 Olympics: Usain Bolt now knows that Yohan Blake is the 'Beast' who means business over 100m.

He was doing his best to still sound like the humble apprentice to Usain Bolt’s sorcerer but after defeating the sprinting wizard twice in just three days at the Jamaican Olympic trials in Kingston, it does not wash any more. The 'Beast’ that is Yohan Blake is now in pole position for gold at London 2012.

After handing Bolt his first defeat at 200 metres for five years, just 48 hours after hammering him over 100m, Blake seemed to know his place, insisting modestly that his training partner had not been 100 per cent right and thanking Bolt for his encouragement during practice.

Yet while he was playing the role of surprised understudy away from the track, on it he was demonstrating to the sports world one simple fact: that if Bolt is anything less than fit, flying and off to electric starts, then his bid to become the first man to successfully defend both 100m and 200m titles at an Olympics will be buried by the driven figure he sees improving every day at training on the University of West Indies track in Kingston.

Last weekend Bolt did not look quite right, and questions about his race fitness were also bound to be raised as he needed medical treatment on the track after the finish on Sunday.

It was a sight guaranteed to encourage not only Blake.

The weekend’s sensations in Kingston will have the vultures circling, ready to feed off the growing suspicion that Bolt, after his injury-riddled 2010 and false start in the 2011 world 100m final, is still not quite in his extra-terrestrial 2009 shape when he set his world records of 9.58sec for 100m and 19.19sec for 200m in Berlin.

Well  I guess my predictions were not on target for the trials but could they be correct for the Olympics?

If you didn't see the 200M finals for yourself or you would like an opportunity to see them again, here is your chance to do so now:

 

Here is what Fox News had to say about the 200M finals for men and women at the Jamaica Olympic trials:

 Blake wins 200 meters, goes 2 for 2 vs Bolt

KINGSTON, Jamaica –  No posing, no salutes, no fist pumping. First, Yohan Blake fell to both knees and rested his head on the track. A bit later, he simply paced in front of the jam-packed grandstand at National Stadium and stared into the crowd, letting all those fans soak in a nice, long look.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the man to beat at the London Olympics.

In a result that no longer feels like a surprise, Blake beat Usain Bolt in the 200 meters at the Jamaican Olympic trials Sunday, finishing in 19.80 seconds to edge the world-record holder by 0.03.

When it was over, Bolt was the first one to approach his training partner and buddy and give him a big bear hug. Moments later, Bolt was down on the ground, getting his right hamstring stretched out, while Blake was celebrating — rather modestly — in front of the fans, who now have not one, but two, legitimate gold medal hopefuls for the sprints in London.

"Usain always gives me a lot of encouragement and tells me to keep coming to this race," Blake said about the 200.

Boy, did he.

The win came two days after Blake, the reigning world champion at 100 meters, beat Bolt in the 100 by running a personal-best 9.75.

That was a shocker, but there were explanations — most notably the terrible starts Bolt got off to throughout the 100 heats and in the final, to say nothing of any residual worry over the false start that scratched him from worlds last year.

Bolt has always considered the 200, which better suits his lanky 6-foot-5 frame, his real work. And now, indeed, he has work to do there, as well.

As they approached the finish, Bolt was grimacing — or was that the hint of a frustrated smile? — as he looked to his left to see what hardly anyone could have imagined earlier this week: Blake beating him to the line for the second time in the span of three days.

"I can never be discouraged," Bolt said. "I'm never worried until my coach gets worried, and my coach isn't worried, so I'm OK."

Said coach Glen Mills: "Usain, he has the experience, the ability, he has been there already. He might be a little off at the moment, but I'm sure when the time of delivery comes around, he'll be on top of his game."

In the women's 200, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran a personal best 22.10 seconds to also complete the 100-200 sweep. She'll be joined by Sherone Simpson and two-time defending Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Fraser-Pryce took the world by surprise four years ago when she won the 100 at Beijing. Her next act could be this 200, where she beat Simpson with lots of room to spare, a 0.27-second margin.

"I'm still learning, you know," Fraser-Pryce said.

Even at that, Fraser-Pryce and the rest of the Jamaicans have some ground to make up. At U.S. trials this weekend, Allyson Felix won the 200 final, also in a personal best of 21.69 seconds.

"I'm happy for Allyson," said Campbell-Brown, who finished third in 22.42. "That's a very good time for her. And the faster we run, the sweeter it will be at the Olympic Games, because anyone who wins that will have to run very, very fast."

While word of Felix's mark had been swirling around Jamaica for about 24 hours, details of Blake's victory were just working their way to the States, where Wallace Spearmon won the 200 in 19.82 seconds Sunday.

"Well, I guess I'll see them in London," Spearmon said. "I'm surprised but I'm just going to worry about myself."

Most everyone else will wonder about Bolt — a guessing game that figures to take on Olympics-sized proportions.

Blake, Bolt and Mills all conceded that Blake came into these trials in better shape than the man whose marks — 9.58 and 19.19 — sit atop the record book.

So, was Bolt genuinely just coasting through this weekend in front of all his home fans, making sure he made it, getting ready for something bigger? Is his conditioning not up to snuff, and if so, is there time for him to get there? Or, might he be hurting, as it appeared when he was getting his leg worked on while lying on the track?

"I don't want to get into that," Bolt said. "I was just working (the leg) around for a few moments to get myself back together. I'm not far off. I can get it done."

Blake will be making his first trip to the Olympics, which can be a daunting prospect, but if these victories over Bolt are giving him any sense of false confidence, he's not showing it.

"It leaves me to get back into training," he said. "It's not over. I still have the Olympics to go."

On the other hand, if Bolt was feeling any sense that he had it made — well, he no longer has to worry about that.

He said this race was lost in the curve — the same curve Blake has been watching Bolt run for the past several months in practice, picking up tips, learning the nuances.

"I was very sad with my turn, it was awful, but I've been working more on the 100 meters," Bolt said. "I can't blame it on that, though. Just have to get my things together and get it done."

After Bolt's bad curve, he came into the straightaway with a deficit. Finally, over the last 50 meters, Bolt started closing.

Like a racecar driver looking for something flashing in his rearview mirror, Blake could see Bolt closing out of the corner of his eye.

The best ones know how to close things out.

"I felt him on my right-hand side," Blake said. "No need to panic. I just stayed focused."

Who will win tonight’s men and women 200M finals? What will be the times run for the first and second place athletes?

After the disastrous performance of Usain Bolt in the 100M on Friday at the Jamaican Olympic trials, he will be looking to redeem himself (in exactly the same way he did at the last world games) in the 200M later this evening. The final is promised to be a cracker of a run between both men who are training partners and good friends.  

On the other hand Shelly- Ann Frazer Price will be looking to add the icing on the cake after her magnificent 1^st place finish in the 100M for women. She will have to however overcome the Olympic and World champion for the 200M, Veronica Campbell Brown. Veronica will be looking to redeem herself after running second to Shelly-Ann in the 100M last Friday.

Yohan ran 19.26 in the 200M in Bruxelles on September 16, 2012 and his time in the semi-finals for the same event (200M) yesterday was 20.26.

Usain ran 19.19 in the 200M in Berlin on August 8, 2012 and his time in the semi-finals last evening was 20.26 in the 200M.

I am predicting that Usain will break his personal best and world record tonight by running 19.17 and Yohan will run his personal best as well.

My prediction for Veronica is a fast finish to stop the clock at 21.70 with Shelly-Ann coming in second with a time of 21.98.

What say you?