Blake withdraws from Jamaican nationals, to run just 100m at worlds

Olympic double sprint silver medallist Yohan Blake will only run in the 100 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow after he withdrew from this weekend’s Jamaican national championships, his manager said on Tuesday. Blake suffered a hamstring injury in April and due to fitness issues was withdrawn from the Jamaican championships, his manager Cubie Seegobin said. “Yohan’s coach is not satisfied with the progress of his injury and hence his level of fitness will not allow him to compete at (the nationals) this time,” Seegobin told Reuters. [caption id=“attachment_888303” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Blake suffered a hamstring injury in April and due to fitness issues was withdrawn from the Jamaican championships, his manager Cubie Seegobin said. Reuters[/caption] “We will continue to assess the situation and re-evaluate as we approach the World Championships,” he added of the August 10-18 meeting in the Russian capital. Blake automatically qualified for the 100m at the World Championships because he was the defending champion having won the 2011 title in Daegu, South Korea. Blake has run the second-fastest time in the 200, clocking 19.26 seconds, just behind his Jamaican compatriot Usain Bolt’s world record of 19.19 seconds that the six-time Olympic champion ran at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Blake has only returned to competition in the last two weeks and ran a pedestrian 20.72 seconds for the longer distance at a low-key development meeting in the Jamaican capital. Reuters