Monday, August 12, 2013

Christophe Lemaitre out of world champs with hamstring tear

AFP - Christophe Lemaitre, who finished seventh in the men's 100m final, has suffered a hamstring tear and will likely miss the rest of the World Athletics Championships, the French athletics federation said. "We can't say if he's officially out but he's got a five centimetre (two-inch) tear, he's seriously injured and we can't really see how it can line up for the 200m and the 4x100m relay," French athletics federation head Bernard Amsalem told AFP late Sunday. The two-time European champion over 100m, who timed 10.06sec in finishing seventh in Sunday's race won by Jamaican star Usain Bolt, will undergo a scan on Monday to further evaluate the injury. According to the sprinter's camp, Lemaitre did not injure himself during the rain-hit 100m final itself but by slipping after coming through the finish line. Should Lemaitre be ruled out, it would be a massive blow for French medal hopes in the 200m, a discipline in which the sprinter won silver in the Daegu worlds two years ago.