EUGENE, Oregon, June 25, (RTRS): Tyson Gay’s dream of a world championship re-match with world record holder Usain Bolt in the 100 metres ended on Friday when the American pulled out of the semifinals of the United States trials with a hip injury.
“Today, I just couldn’t get it to go no matter how hard I tried,” the world’s second fastest man said on his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tyson.gay).
“My only focus now is to get healthy,” the disappointed Gay said.
His manager Mark Wetmore said the American record holder was forced to withdraw from the 100 after he was unable to warm up due to a hip and adductor problem on his right side.
Wetmore told Reuters that Gay would not take part in the 200 metres trials beginning on Saturday.
The injury cost the upcoming world championship organisers its headline matchup - a showdown between Gay and Bolt - and robbed the American team of its only sprinter within striking distance of the Jamaican.
“It is a big blow,” said US 100 metres winner Walter Dix. “Tyson at his best is one of the top runners in the world.
“For us to not have him means we are just going to have to step up.”
Gay could be part of the US world 4x100m relay team if he recovered in time, USA Track and Field (USATF) officials said.

“But he has to be able to show fitness and be able to run,” USATF President Stephanie Hightower told Reuters.
Former world record holder and Jamaican 100 metres trials winner Asafa Powell said he hoped that happened.
“I hope he can come back for even the relays at the world championships,” Powell told reporters after his victory in Kingston.
Cut-throat system
Hightower told Reuters she hoped Gay would quickly rebound from the injury.
“It is unfortunate that he is hurt and we wish him a speedy recovery,” Hightower said.
But she added that USATF’s emphasis also needed to be preparing the best team possible for the world championships in Daegu, South Korea in August.
Only the top three finishers in each event at the US trials qualify for the world championships.
The cut-throat system has been questioned for years, and Gay wondered recently if it was the best way to select a team.
“I believe you should earn your spot - but sometimes its tough,” he told reporters in New York.
“You have a great sprinter, no matter what country they come from, they could be an Olympic champion, and they happen to be sick that morning because of food poisoning and they cannot run.
“But I know the system and you have to deal with it,” Gay said.
The US record holder has been troubled by hip and adductor problems for some time. He had earlier cast doubt on competing in the 200 at the US trials because of the problems.
World champion in the 100 and 200 in 2007, Gay missed a 100 metres clash with Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after not qualifying for the final, having failed to fully recover from a different injury in US 200 metres trials.
The two finally met in the 2009 world championships with Bolt winning in a world record 9.58 seconds. Gay took second.

They raced again in Stockholm last year with Gay taking a surprise victory.
Now the world will need to wait for Gay to heal before talk of a re-match surfaces which might not be until the 2012 London Olympics.
Olympic bronze medallist Walter Dix pipped Justin Gatlin by a hundredth of a second in the 100 metres at the US world trials on Friday following Tyson Gay’s shock withdrawal due to injury.
Gatlin, on the comeback trail after serving a four-year doping ban, was reeled in over the closing metres by the lower-profile Dix who recorded a time of 9.94 seconds.
“I just let it rip,” said Dix, who won bronze medals in both the 100 and 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where Jamaican Usain Bolt ripped up the record books.
An emotional Gatlin, banned from 2006-10 because of a doping offence, cried tears of joy after crossing the line.
“For the last four years I have had so much pent-up frustration, sadness, so much emotion, anger, (that) before the finish line I let it all out,” said the 29-year-old, a former Olympic and world champion. “I thought I won.”

Mike Rodgers clocked 9.99 seconds to complete the US 100m trio for the world championships.
Jeter romps
In contrast to the men’s tightly-contested sprint, top-ranked Carmelita Jeter blew away the field in the women’s 100m with a wind-assisted 10.74 seconds, nearly a tenth of a second faster than runner-up Marshevet Myers. Miki Barber was third.
Young Ashton Eaton dominated the decathlon, taking the title with a lifetime best 8,729 points. Runner-up Jon Harlan also made the team with the third berth still up for grabs.
Among those in the running is Olympic champion Bryan Clay, who pulled out of the decathlon on Friday after straining a calf muscle in the 110m high hurdles.
Three-times 200m world champion Allyson Felix continued her quest for a 400m national title by qualifying for Saturday’s final in the fourth-fastest time of the day.
Francena McCorory topped the semi-finals with a time of 50.77 seconds.
The 400m world champion Sanya Richards-Ross pulled out of the distance but will run the 200m trial as she, like Felix, contemplates a 200/400 double in Daegu.
US record holder David Oliver had little trouble in the 110m hurdles, winning his preliminary in 13.08.
The trials continue on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay withdrew from the US national trials with injury on Friday, jeopardising his chances of competing at this year’s world championships in South Korea.
Clay pulled out after he fell during the 110 metres hurdles and injured his calf muscle.
“I think I have a little strain,” he said.
Decathlon winner Ashton Eaton and runner-up Ryan Harlan secured their berths in the four-man team at the trials on Friday. World champion Trey Hardee is already a guaranteed a spot at Daegu as the title-holder.
Because Clay was not an automatic qualifier for the world championships, he will have to wait for the third and fourth finishers in Friday’s competition to chase the world championship qualifying standard.
Miller Moss and Chris Helwick have until August to try for the standard, USA Track and Field men’s committee chairman John Chaplin told Reuters.
“If they do not make it, Clay would need to file an appeal,” said Chaplin, who suggested the appeal would likely be successful.