EUGENE, Ore. — Two-time 100-meter Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt pulled out of the Jamaica national championships because of an apparent hamstring injury, but make no mistake: His American rivals, the ones who have long tried to beat him in track’s most high-profile and explosive event, expect him to be at the Rio Games next month.
Jamaica, unlike the the United States, allows medical waivers to place athletes on the Olympic team if they miss their trials. Regardless of circumstance, American athletes must finish in the top three at the Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field and attain the Olympic standard to get a trip to Rio.
But the American sprinters acknowledge that Bolt, the sport’s most electric and recognizable star, will find a way.
“We have the toughest trials, in America,” said Michael Rodgers, who won the first heat of the 100 on Saturday in 10 seconds. “We don’t get a bye. We don’t have a medical exemption. I felt like it is a cop-out. He should run just like everyone else. But at the end of the day, he is Bolt. He is the Olympic champ, the world champ. So until someone beats him, puts him in his place, he is going to continue to do what he wants to do.”
Tyson Gay, the 33-year-old American-record holder in the 100 who posted the third-fastest time of the day in 9.97, joked that this was all part of Bolt’s routine before a major world championship. “It’s a tradition,” Gay said. “2012, last year … I know he’s going to come back strong.”
The news Friday night quickly made the rounds here, reaching sprinter Justin Gatlin, who qualified for Sunday’s semifinals in 10.03 seconds, via text message from a friend. In fact, he thought his friend was lying. “It’s kind of like, ‘Is it April Fools? Let me check the calendar real quick,’ ” said Gatlin, who is viewed as one of the favorites to win the event after posting the No. 1 time in the world rankings the past two seasons.
Gatlin knows well what it’s like to be in Bolt’s shadow. He lost to him by one-hundredth of a second at the 2015 world championships and earned bronze in London in 2012, two spots behind Bolt, after winning the trials that year.
Bolt is vying to become the first man to win Olympic gold in the 100 three times, after grabbing gold in 2008 in Beijing and in London.
“It is an Olympic year, and crazy stuff happens,” Gatlin said. “He is Usain, so we’re going to see his face in Rio one way or another. When you command a certain power in track and field, sometimes you get to exercise it.
“One thing you have to know about Usain, he’s not going to show his cards. … He’ll come out when he’s ready.”
