Sport

Injury hampers J'can speedster

Asafa Powell being treated after aggravating a groin injury during his 100-metre final victory at the National Stadium on June 25. - file

HANDLERS OF ASAFA Powell, the fastest man in history, are taking a cautious approach with regard to the national 100-metre champion's groin injury as the World Championships draw closer.

Powell, who is favoured to win the gold medal in the 100-metre sprint in Helsinki following his world record run of 9.77 seconds in early June, aggravated a groin injury during the national track and field championships in late June.

He first aggravated the groin injury on May 14 in Santo Domingo while running the 200 metres. He failed to finish that event but recovered over the next three weeks to post times of 9.84 (wind-aided) at the Prefontaine Classic in the United States, 9.85 in cold and windy Ostrava, culminating in the world-record run in Athens on June 14.

Going into the trials, Powell was reportedly still sore from the world record run and had even considered pulling out of the 100-metre finals during the national track and field championships. As it was, he ran and won the finals and aggravated the groin once more.

Longer to heal

Doctors figured Powell would have recovered in a few weeks. However, that has turned out not to be the case.

Word is that Powell's injury is taking longer to heal than previously anticipated. MRI scans of Powell's injured groin were taken to Europe about two weeks ago for doctors there to view them.

During that time, the Jamaican was pulled from two track meets, the most recent one in Rome where he was expected to participate in a much anticipated clash with Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, who won the event in 9.96 seconds.

However, it's not all bad news as THE STAR was told that Powell is training and might be racing later this week.

"We are watching it and we are hoping he can race in London this Friday," said Bruce James, president of the MVP track club of which Powell is a member. James said if Powell is unable to compete in London then the next target would be a meet in Stockholm, Sweden on July 26, nine days before the World Champion-ships begin in Helsinki, Finland.

"We are being cautious," James said. "If he is not able to race in London we might wait until Stockholm and, if not, then he will be racing at the world championships."