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Usain Bolt Could Compete In Rio Olympics 2016, Despite Injured Hamstring, Officials Report

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 10:52 PST, Jul 2, 2016

Usain Bolt can still compete in the Rio Olympics 2016 as long as his torn hamstring has healed by that time and he’s fit enough to race, Reuters reports.

Bolt, who is a six-time Olympic gold medal winner, tore his hamstring during Olympic trials in his native Jamaica. This caused him to pull out of the finals of the 100 meter and 200 meter trials. His withdrawal from the Olympic trials caused many to fear that he would not be eligible to compete at the Rio Olympics. But a Jamaican sports official has said that is not necessarily the case. The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Olympic selection policy allows for certain concessions to be made in case of injury.

“The rules say if you’re ranked in the top three in the world, whether by ranking or time, it can be ranking or fastest time,” said Ludlow Watts, Jamaica Team Manager.

“And (if) you’re unavailable because of medical reasons, as confirmed by the JAAA medical panel, and if after you have recovered you regain your pre-injury form, you may be considered for reinstatement in the event, provided that is done before the qualifying final entry date.”

According to Reuters, Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president Mike Fennell said he expects to receive a final list of Jamaica’s Rio Olympics contenders next week.

“The deadline for entries is set for Thursday of next week because we have to meet a deadline in Brazil by early the following week,” Fennel said. He added that any athlete can be entered, removed and substituted on the list according to IAAF and Olympics rules.

On Friday, July 1, Usain Bolt disclosed news of his hamstring injury via his Facebook page.

“After feeling discomfort in my hamstring after the first round last night and then again in the semi-final tonight I was examined by the Chief Doctor of the National Championships and diagnosed with a Grade 1 tear,” he wrote.

“I have submitted a medical exemption to be excused from the 100m final and the remainder of the National Championships. I will seek treatment immediately and hope to show fitness at the London Anniversary Games on July 22 to earn selection for the Olympic Games in Rio.”

Although Usain Bolt has said that he is focused on his recovery so that he can compete in the Rio Olympics, people are already starting to speculate what his absence could mean for the 100 meter and 200 meter events. It would certainly open the field for athletes from the U.S. to have a chance at Olympic gold.

Usain Bolt’s almost superhuman accomplishments in track and field have made him one of the most recognizable names in track and field today.

As USA Today notes, in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Usain Bolt set world records in three events, the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the 400 meter relay. In 2009 at The IAAF World Championships in Berlin, he set the the world record of 9.58 and the record still stands today.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he set the 100 meter Olympic record of 9.63. He also broke the world record in the 400 meter relay with a time of 36.84.

Today, Bolt is 29-years-old, so some question whether his body might be slowing because he is getting older. But as the article in USA Today reports, Bolt ran 9.88 in the 100 meter at Kingston’s National Stadium on June 11 of this year during the Jamacian Olympic trials. Only one other athlete in the world has a faster time this year, Jimmy Vicaut, of France, and his time was wind-assisted.

[Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images]

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