Olympic 100m bronze medalist Andre De Grasse has announced that he will not compete at the upcoming World Championships in London.
In a statement, the Canadian sprinter - who also won 200m silver in Rio last year - said that he had suffered a hamstring tear.
To my fans and my supporters;
Earlier this week in practice, I suffered a hamstring tear that has forced me to withdraw from the World Championships.
Injuries are a part of the sport, and the timing of this one is especially unfortunate. While I’m in the best shape of my life and extremely disappointed that I will not have the chance to compete for my country in London, I can't forget or be ungrateful for the successes that I've been blessed with up to this point in my career.
Thank you to my family, friends and fans that have supported me all the way….. I'll be back stronger and faster than ever.
But for now, Canada still has a very strong team at the World Championships. They are preparing to take on the world, and the focus should be on them.
De Grasse's absence from the competition is a major boost to Usain Bolt's hopes of departing athletics with another major 100m title.
Though De Grasse has not run a legal sub-10 second time this season, he did run a strongly wind-assisted (+4.8 m/s) 9.69 in Stockholm back in June.
De Grasse, who was a PB of 9.91, would have been one of Bolt's main rivals for the gold medal. Last month, De Grasse's camp suggested that Bolt has been responsible for having the 22-year-old 'booted' from the last major race prior to London - the Diamond League meeting in Monaco. Though, that was a claim denied by Bolt's management.
The Jamaican has struggled for form most of this season but in Monaco ran his fastest time of the year, 9.95. Prior to that, his form had been hampered by back problems. Bolt intends to retire after running both the 100m and 4x100m relay at the World Championships.
The fastest time so far this year was run by American Christian Coleman. The 21-year-old ran 9.82 at Hayward Field in June.
Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
