Rio Olympic 100m sprinter Marvin Bracy will miss the U.S. Track and Field Championships next week due to recent surgery, his agent said.
The specifics of the surgery and Bracy’s return timetable aren’t clear.
Bracy last raced at the IAAF World Relays April 22, then tried out for the Carolina Panthers two weeks later but was not signed as a wide receiver.
Bracy finished 11th in the 100m at the Rio Games. He snagged the last spot on the Olympic 100m team over veterans Mike Rodgers and Tyson Gay at trials last June.
The former Florida State wideout said in March that if he didn’t make an NFL roster he may try to make it in another professional football league, perhaps the Canadian Football League, before settling on returning to track. Bracy did race in three track meets in April.
“If I have to make a choice, I’m going to stick with the gridiron, if I have that opportunity,” Bracy said at FSU’s pro day in March. “But if not, if track is what I’ve got to do, it’s what I’ve got to do, because I’ve got family to take care of.”
Bracy hasn’t played a competitive football game in five years.
The U.S. sprint team for worlds in August may look very different than it did in Rio. Not only is Bracy out, but 100m teammate Trayvon Bromell hasn’t raced since Rio due to Achilles surgery.
Justin Gatlin, the Olympic 100m silver medalist, hasn’t broken 10 seconds in a wind-legal race this year.
The fastest man in the world in 2017 is University of Tennessee junior Christian Coleman, who finished sixth in the 100m at the 2016 Olympic Trials. Coleman ran 9.82 at the NCAA Championships last week, breaking the meet record.
The top three in the 100m at the U.S. Championships on June 23 make the team for worlds in London, where they will try to dethrone Usain Bolt in Bolt’s final career individual race.
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