Sprinters certain Bolt will be in Rio

EUGENE, Ore. — It’s a sport built on speed, and at U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials on Saturday, sprinters wasted no time drawing conclusions about Usain Bolt’s summertime itinerary.

The consensus: He’ll be in Rio.

For the second straight day, the Jamaican sprinter’s hamstring was topic No. 1 in the track world. If Bolt is seriously hurt, the entire Olympics will take on a new perspective, whether it’s Bolt at lessthan-full strength or absent altogether.

Not that anyone going through preliminary rounds in Eugene was worried about that.

“Crazy stuff always happens in an Olympic year,” said Bolt’s main challenger, Justin Gatlin, who cruised through his 100-meter preliminary in a time of 10.03 seconds.But c’mon, we’re going to see his face in Rio one way or another.”

Meanwhile in Kingston, few clues emerged the day after Bolt, the 29-yearold world-record holder, pulled out of his national championships, posting a picture on Twitter with electrical-stimulation pads stuck to his hamstring and the message: “Starting the recovery process right away.”

What is known is that Jamaica’s rules are much less restrictive than those in the United States, which allow the top three finishers in each event to qualify, with no exceptions for injuries or past performances.

“I feel like it’s a cop-out. He should run like anybody else,” said Mike Rodgers, the 2009 U.S. champion at 100 meters.

Indeed, there was more eye-rolling than genuine concern among the U.S. sprinters, who feel like they’ve seen this before.

“It’s a tradition,” said U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay.

Gatlin said years ago, he might have heard about an injury to Bolt “and thought I hit the lottery.” What did the injury do to his thought process this time?

“Nothing,” Gatlin said. “Being a veteran, you can’t let that change you.”

Gatlin didn’t want to get sucked into a conversation of whether he’d like to see Bolt at his best when he gets to Brazil next month.

It’s a format they’ve long dealt with and accept, even if it adds some strain, coming only six weeks before the games begin.

“If I was Bolt in Jamaica, I’d probably pull out, too,” said Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist at 200 meters.

In Saturday action in Eugene, former Texas Longhorn Marielle Hall took bronze in the 10,000 meters to qualify for a spot in Rio, while Texas A&M senior Shelbi Vaughan claimed silver in the discus and will be a part of her first Olympic team.