Definitely injured, and there’s not much time left before Trials. Tebogo is no longer in the meet either, but that’s most likely related to the tragic passing of his Mom.
Definitely injured, and there’s not much time left before Trials. Tebogo is no longer in the meet either, but that’s most likely related to the tragic passing of his Mom.
I assumed there was something up after he skipped his season opener 400 at Tom Jones in mid april-ish. That was pretty much confirmed after missing his sponsor's meet.
Not good. Looks like it's gonna be Lindsey, Kenny B, and Lyles unless something big changes.
Major athletes missing from Pre:
Letsile Tebogo (this one is pretty understandable)
Erriyon Knighton (presumed injury)
Athing Mu (injury)
Rai Benjamin (unknown)
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He might be injured, but we don't know if it's "won't make the team" injured or "dealing with something and to be safe should open at trials" injured. Hopefully it's the latter.
He might be injured, but we don't know if it's "won't make the team" injured or "dealing with something and to be safe should open at trials" injured. Hopefully it's the latter.
Fair. For sprinters, there is more of a chance of that.
EDIT: Rai is curious. Injury? Is it possible Oslo offered him a ton to go there and face Warholm? Doubtful but it seems more Nike guys are going there than usual.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
He might be injured, but we don't know if it's "won't make the team" injured or "dealing with something and to be safe should open at trials" injured. Hopefully it's the latter.
Fair. For sprinters, there is more of a chance of that.
EDIT: Rai is curious. Injury? Is it possible Oslo offered him a ton to go there and face Warholm? Doubtful but it seems more Nike guys are going there than usual.
I think for Rai it is probably as simple as he raced hard last weekend and probably doesn't want to do another hurdles race in close proximity (I'd love it if he is going to Oslo but would be shocked if that is the case). He has spoken before about being judicious with his schedule -- weighing the risk of injury from competing vs. the reward of appearance fee/prize money. He did what he needed to do in his opener and given his injury history I'm guessing he did not see a need to racing twice in a row.
Obviously he's a Nike athlete so it's not quite as easy as just opting out of Pre, but if he framed it as a precaution for staying healthy, maybe they let him do it. That's my best guess.
I think for Rai it is probably as simple as he raced hard last weekend and probably doesn't want to do another hurdles race in close proximity (I'd love it if he is going to Oslo but would be shocked if that is the case). He has spoken before about being judicious with his schedule -- weighing the risk of injury from competing vs. the reward of appearance fee/prize money. He did what he needed to do in his opener and given his injury history I'm guessing he did not see a need to racing twice in a row.
Obviously he's a Nike athlete so it's not quite as easy as just opting out of Pre, but if he framed it as a precaution for staying healthy, maybe they let him do it. That's my best guess.
Thanks Jon! I kinda wish athletes were held up to explaining withdrawals from races. Rai just posted a training photo on an IG Story, so the obvious implication is there's no injury. But why not just release a 10-word statement: "I'm out of Pre after LA checked all the boxes. Priority is staying healthy for Paris."