6 July 2012
Usain Bolt has flown to see his German doctor three weeks before the start of the Olympics with what Sportsmail understands is a back injury.
The participation of the world's fastest man at the London Games is possibly in doubt, though his camp naturally sought to play down the extent of his latest setback.
Bolt's coach Glen Mills said: 'Arising from Usain's participation at the national trials in Kingston this past weekend, where he had a slight problem, after careful assessment I have had to withdraw him from the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 20 to give him sufficient time for treatment and time to train and prepare for the Olympic Games in London.'Sources in Jamaica indicated that the problem is related to his back. Bolt was born with a curvature of the spine and missed the end of the 2010 season with a back injury that was treated, as in this instance, by renowned if controversial doctor Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt.
Bolt, 25, flew to Muller-Wohlfahrt's Munich clinic via London. The trip came after his double defeat at the Jamaican trials, where he lost unexpectedly in both the 100 metres and 200m to training partner Yohan Blake.
He lay down on the track while his right hamstring was stretched out following the second of those races, the 200m, last Sunday night.
Although Bolt has spoken of running the 100m in 9.4sec in London next month - the fastest he believes the human body can travel - this is not the first time this year he has made an unexpected trip to see Muller-Wohlfahrt.
Sportsmail reported in February how he pulled out of his advertised first race of the season, the Camperdown Classic in Kingston, to make the 22-hour round trip from the Caribbean to Europe.Sources close to his training group, the Racers Track Club, said then he was suffering from a niggling leg injury. However, Bolt's camp insisted the visit was routine and his website had made a mistake in suggesting he had intended to take part in the Camperdown Classic. On the site, he had claimed to be 'excited to be beginning my season'.
Muller-Wohlfahrt divides opinion. A senior figure within the US Anti-Doping Agency has called his methods 'Frankenstein-type experiments', though his many approving patients know him as 'Healing Hans'.
Footballers Steven Gerrard, Ronaldo, Michael Owen and ardent anti-drugs campaigner Paula Radcliffe have all availed themselves of his medicine. Radcliffe is currently being treated by the doctor for a foot injury.
Muller-Wohlfahrt, 70, was trained in conventional medicine and orthopaedics but now he also injects some patients with calves' blood and extracts from the crest of cockerels. He has treated Bolt since the runner was a teenager.
A fit Bolt is the greatest box-office draw of the Games. American sprint legend Michael Johnson said this week: 'He can do whatever he wants to do. If he gets to the starting line healthy, at his best, he wins every time.'
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