Powell pulls out of London Grand Prix

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell has pulled out of the 100 metres at the Diamond League because of a back problem.

LONDON: Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell has pulled out of the 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting today because of ongoing problems with his back, according to the race organisers.

London chiefs confirmed on Wednesday that Powell was still struggling with the same injury that forced him to pull out of last Friday’s Diamond League meeting in Stockholm. The 27-year-old said on Tuesday that he had been nursing a series of injuries linked to an initial groin problem over the past month and that he was monitoring his fitness “day by day”.

American Tyson Gay is now the only star sprinter competing at the London Grand Prix, a two-day meeting that takes place at Crystal Palace. World and Olympic 100-metre champion Usain Bolt had already said he would not be competing in the English capital, before his announcement on Tuesday that his season was over owing to a back injury.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2010.