If you were hoping to see uber-sprinter Usain Bolt or half-lap queen Veronica Campbell-Brown compete at this week's Jamaican Championships, the Continental Cup in September, or the Commonwealth Games in October you're out of luck.If you're a fan of Jamaican track and field, the news out of the sprint camps on the island this weekend could be summed up thusly: "Every ting no criss."
Things are definitely not cool, especially if you were hoping to see uber-sprinter Usain Bolt or half-lap queen Veronica Campbell-Brown compete at the Continental Cup in September or the Commonwealth Games in October.
Neither is happening.
Reports on Trackalerts.com, a Jamaican-focused website, on consecutive days broke the news that arguably the country's biggest male and female stars in the sport will be sitting out this summer's major competitions.
Bolt, who is currently nursing an Achilles tendon injury and hopes to return to training next week, has been non-committal since last summer about competing the Commonwealth Games, a mini-Olympics staged very four years for the former colonies of the British Empire.
He has apparently had that decision made for him by coach Glenn Mills, who when asked about his protege's status for the meet, which runs from October 3-14, replied, "He will not be going, full stop."
If that is indeed the case, it is a big blow for meet organizers in New Dehli who were apparently prepared to crack the vault to get Bolt to compete. A report in The Times of India cited an anonymous source saying that meet organizers were prepared to offer Bolt as much as a $1 million appearance fee.
Bolt's agent Ricky Simms maintains that he has had no contact with meet organizers, adding, "If Coach Mills said he is not going then I would not even start negotiation."
Meanwhile, Campbell-Brown announced through her agent, Claude Bryan, that she will join Bolt, Kerron Stewart, Yohan Blake and Sheri-Ann Brooks as high-profile sprinters not competing at the Jamaican National Championships in Kingston this Saturday and Sunday.
By not competing at the meet, which doubles as the national team trials, the two-time Olympic 200m champion will be ineligible to compete at the Commonwealth Games or the Continental Cup, held Sept. 5-6 in Split, Croatia.
Qualification for the latter meet will be determined by a performance list later this summer, but a prerequisite is that athletes must compete in their national finals to gain eligibility.
source: universalsports.com
