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Usain Bolt
NEW DELHI, India — Usain Bolt is skipping the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, and so is just about every other top track athlete that is eligible to compete in the competition. Bolt won the 100 and 200-metre races at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and last year's World Championships in world record times, but he pulled out of the Commonwealth Games because of tightness in his lower back, which forced him to cut his season short in 2010.
"Every athlete misses competing," the Jamaican said about skipping the games in India. "When you sit there watching other guys competing, you really want to get back into competition."
Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell, who held the world record in the 100 until Bolt first broke it in 2008, has also decided to skip the Commonwealth Games, which run from October 3-14. Powell is the defending champion in the 100.
"My 2010 season is one that was cut short by injuries to my hamstrings and back muscles," Powell said. "I was really disappointed not to be able to finish my season the way I wanted to, and that is the way I started it, healthy and winning races."
Other notable absentees include South African runner Caster Semenya and English world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis.
Semenya won the 800 world title in Berlin last year, but then sat out competition for about 11 months due to a gender dispute. She pulled out of the Commonwealth Games because of a back injury.
Since being cleared by the IAAF to compete as a woman, Semenya has won four of her six comeback races in Europe over the last two months.
She placed third at the Diamond League meet in Brussels in late August, running 1:59.66 -- more than four seconds slower than her winning time at the 2009 worlds. And then she was ninth in 2:07.16 a few days later in Rovereto, Italy.
In Milan on September 8, the 19-year-old South African won in 1:58.16 -- her best time since her return.
The would-be favourite in the men's 800, David Rudisha on Kenya, has also withdrawn, saying he was tired after a long season. Rudisha broke Wilson Kipketer's 13-year-old record in August, running 1:41.09 in Berlin. A week later, he lowered the record to 1:41.01 in Rieti, Italy.
The main competition on the track is expected to come from Australia, Jamaica, Kenya and England, although the English team is missing its two biggest stars, Ennis and European 5,000-10,000 double champion Mo Farah.
"We can't do a great deal about it," England athletics team leader John Brierley said. "We did try to convince (Ennis) to compete in individual events instead of a full-blown heptathlon. And we would have loved to have had (Farah) there, but he is tired. He is fatigued."
In the field events, Olympic and world pole vault champion Steve Hooker is due to compete. Although the Australian struggled in 2010 after winning the world indoor title, failing to clear a height in three Diamond League meetings, he will be favoured to repeat as Commonwealth Games champion in New Delhi.
"The world indoor title was my main target, but the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games are also equally important," Hooker said. "I had several goals so spread out and that's why this has been a tough year."
The tough year took its toll on several top athletes, but none will be missed more than Bolt, who is already focusing on next year's World Championships in South Korea and the 2012 London Olympics.
"I'm trying to enjoy this time off because I know next season is going to be very vigorous for my body for training because it's a World Championship year," said Bolt, who also missed the previous Commonwealth Games in Melbourne because of injury. "I have to defend my titles, so that's the aim for me."
