Asafa Powell says goodbye to 2010 season

Former world 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell has called an end to his 2010 season, joining his more celebrated Jamaican compatriot Usain Bolt on the sidelines.

The 27-year-old Powell suffered back and hamstring injuries following his Paris Diamond League outing last month and is still unable to train at 100 per cent.

Powell’s manager Paul Doyle confirmed on Saturday that Powell would take no further part in the season.

“We decided that right after the Zurich meet [to pull him out],” Doyle said.

“This past Wednesday he went to the physiotherapist in London and it was recommended that he didn’t run because he hamstring was still tight, even though his back was getting better.”

He added that the back injury was “not bad but he has missed five weeks of training” which would make it difficult to run again this season.

“At that stage if he wasn’t going to run in Berlin (World Challenge meet on August 22), it would be tough to run in Brussels (Diamond League meet on August 27) without getting that race in,” Doyle explained.

The injury forced him to miss the clash with Bolt and American Tyson Gay in Stockholm earlier this month and also kept him out of the Crystal Palace meeting against Gay and Jamaican Yohan Blake last weekend.

Bolt called an end to his season earlier this month after sustaining a lower back injury.