JOIN USUnited States sprinter Tyson Gay will put aside the pain of a nagging hip injury and run his first race in nearly a year at this weekend's Adidas Grand Prix in New York as he scrambles to be fit for Olympic trials, he told Reuters on Monday.
Gay will not race Jamaican world champion Yohan Blake in the featured 100 metres event, however, and will instead compete in a preliminary race at the Diamond League meeting.
“I still have a pain (in the hip area), but I am managing it and I've got to get on with it,” Gay said in a telephone interview from Dallas, where he is currently training.”
Although a pre-Olympic showdown with Blake, one of the favourites for the London 2012 Games, would be ideal, it would not be helpful to Gay at this point, the sprinter and his agent said.
“I am running in the B section because, competition wise, I am not ready yet,” Gay said.
The separation will allow Gay to test himself without the pressure of racing the world champion, Gay's agent, Mark Wetmore, said from New York.
“It may not be ideal for everyone, with two athletes of that calibre in different races, but in an Olympic year we have to look after Tyson,” Wetmore said.