INJURIES HURTING DIAMOND LEAGUE

Tyson Gay nurses a tight hammy

It’s interesting to note the number of injuries being sustained by some of the world’s best athletes during this year when there is no major competition but a year that marks the inaugural season of the Diamond League.
So far, for the most part, the Diamond League has not lived up to expectation. We have seen remarkable runs from Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Carmelita Jeter and this past weekend by Allyson Felix and Veronica Campbell Brown, but besides the latter two meeting up at the last meeting in New York, there have been few marquee match-ups of note. Bolt and Gay were to have met in New York but injury put paid to that possibility as both Bolt and Gay, the two fastest men in history are recovering from injury – Bolt, a swollen Achilles tendon and Gay, a tight hamstring.
Besides the head-to-head between Bolt and Gay, many fans of the sport, including myself, were looking forward to the head-to-heads between Jeter and Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart. Since Jeter assumed dominance of the women’s short sprint since late last year, the only sprinter that seems likely to break her unbeaten run was the powerful Stewart, who without any speed work, ran Jeter to the line at the National Stadium at the Jamaica International Invitational on May 1; 10.94s to 10.96s. That race had set up the possibility of some tantalizing clashes between the two female speedsters during the course of the season, but on the weekend at the Sotteville Athletisima in France, Stewart suffered a hamstring tear while running the 200 metres and seems set to miss at least six weeks. Word is she might even opt to skip the entire season – the reason being that she could possibly use the remainder of the season to properly recover and then start preparing for the World Championships in Daegu in 2011.
Of course, there are other battles to behold on the track and in the field – the javelin, the 800 metres, male and female; the long distance runs, the shot put, high jump, long and triple jump, but the blue riband events are the sprints. The fastest men and women on the planet are who hold sway.
Hopefully, we will see some worthwhile clashes as the summer rolls on as Bolt has resumed training, and Gay will hopefully be healthy soon. Of course, they will be going up against the man who is stealing the thunder right now – Asafa Powell, who has been running really fast this season, going four for four in the 100m and with a season best time of 9.82, despite a very slow start in his last race in Rome.
Had he had his usual reaction time of between 0.154 and 0.120, his time in Rome could have easily been 9.7x or faster.
For the sake of the Diamond League here’s wishing that everybody returns to full health soon because a successful season sets things up for an even bigger year next year.