NEW DELHI, July 1 – The world's fastest man Usain Bolt will not compete at the Commonwealth Games in India despite his name appearing in the preliminary entry list, his manager was quoted as saying on Thursday."I can 100 percent confirm that Usain will not be running at the Commonwealth Games," manager Ricky Simms told the Times of India.
Simms said he was surprised Jamaica had entered Bolt’s name and urged the organisers of the October 3-14 Games not to raise hopes that the double Olympic and world sprint champion would run in New Delhi.
"Maybe this list was sent in some time ago," Simms told the newspaper. "The Commonwealth Games is not on Usain’s schedule for this year.
"I do not understand why officials cannot just accept his decision and stop putting out more stories in the press. They should focus on the athletes who are coming to India."
Bolt’s coach Glen Mills had also said last month that New Delhi was not on the sprinter’s agenda, but Games organisers insisted he would be the star attraction at the Games.
"Bolt will surely come," organising committee spokesman Lalit Bhanot had told reporters, adding that the Jamaican authorities had included him in the preliminary entry list.
Organisers were hoping that Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell, who hails from Jamaica, would convince Bolt to make the trip to New Delhi.
Bolt is currently recovering from an Achilles tendon injury which forced him to miss the Diamond League event in New York last month.
The Jamaican – whose compatriot Asafa Powell is the defending Commonwealth Games champion – won the 100m and 200m gold medals in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and repeated the feat at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.
The Commonwealth Games, which feature 71 nations and territories of the former British empire, are India’s biggest sporting event since the Asian Games in 1982.
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