Sore knee slows sprinter Powell
Sun Apr 22, 3:16 AM ET



Jamaica's World 100m record holder Asafa Powell has pulled out of
upcoming meetings because of tendinitis in his knee, his manager said
Saturday.

Powell was scheduled to run at next weekend's Penn Relays in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at the Jamaica International
Invitational Meet on May 5 here. In Kingston he was to have run his
first individual 100m race this year.

However, Powell's manager Paul Doyle said his athlete is not 100
percent and therefore they will not rush him into action.

Doyle also said the minor injury was the same one that prompted
Powell to withdraw from the Mt. Sac Relays in California last weekend.

Powell had made the trip to Walnut, east of Los Angeles, but decided
it was too windy and chilly to risk aggravating the knee.

"It's the same injury, but it's not too serious," Doyle said. "We
don't want him to race at full speed if he is not 100 percent."

Powell has said his main focus will be on the World Championships in
Osaka this summer, and he would race a light schedule leading up to
the year's main competition.

Although the Jamaica International Invitational is two weeks away,
Doyle said, "There is a big possibility that he will miss that as
well".

Doyle said Powell "is still training, but we are just going play it
day by day. We just want to play it safe."