RALEIGH, North Carolina, (Reuters) – U.S. world 100 metres silver medallist Tyson Gay had an arthroscopic procedure on his injured right hip and will not run again this year, his manager said yesterday.
Gay, the world’s second fastest man behind Usain Bolt, had the surgery Tuesday in Vail, Colorado, Mark Wetmore said in a statement.
“The doctor was pleased with the outcome and believes Tyson will resume his normal base training in the fall as he prepares for 2012,” said Wetmore.
The frequently-injured Gay had hoped to race Jamaica’s Bolt in the headline event of August’s world championships but was forced to withdraw from the U.S. world trials 100 metres semi-finals last month because of the hip injury.
He will now focus on recovering and preparing for the 2012 London Olympics and an anticipated showdown with Bolt.
Although one of the top sprinters of all-time and the American 100 metres record holder at 9.69 seconds, he has never won an Olympic medal.
The surgery should give him another chance. “The procedure, which addressed an impingement in his hip, went just as expected – with no surprises or complications,” Dr. Marc Philippon said in a statement. “Tyson is already doing range-of-motion, active rehabilitation and I expect him to resume normal training after six-to-nine weeks.”
Gay, who turns 29 on Aug. 9, was not available for comment. Following his withdrawal from the U.S. trials, Gay had said on his Facebook page that his only focus was on getting healthy.”
While Wetmore said the hip had been bothering Gay for some time, he still ran what was then the year’s fastest 100 metres in early June when he clocked 9.79 seconds at a small meeting in Florida.
He bypassed the 200 metres at the U.S. world trials because of hip problems and saw his last chance to compete in this year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea end this week when he was not named to the U.S. relay pool.
EARLY COMEBACK
Gay won both the 100 and 200 metres titles at the 2007 world championships, but the next year Bolt emerged as the dominant sprinter, smashing both sprint world record holders at the Beijing Games.
Gay did not make that 100 metres final, going out in the semi-finals as he attempted to comeback early from a 200 metres injury at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Bolt also dominated the 2009 world championships, setting world records in both the 100 and 200. Gay competed only in the 100, taking silver behind Bolt’s record of 9.58 seconds.
Revenge finally came in the 2010 Stockholm Diamond League meeting where the American shocked a not-completely healthy Bolt.
“It was crazy. It was like I didn’t even exist until I beat the world record holder” Gay said at the time of the public reaction to the victory.
