Dina Asher-Smith has withdrawn from Tuesday’s seventh leg of the Wanda Diamond League event in Gateshead as a precaution with a tight hamstring.
The 25-year-old sprinter was set to run in the 200m in what would have been her final race before the Tokyo Olympics.
Organisers confirmed her withdrawal in a statement and said: “With the Olympic Games so close she does not want to risk anything.”
Asher-Smith, the 200m world champion, also tweeted the news to her followers and added: “As you all know, I love running in front of a home crowd but I have to make smart decisions for myself and my body ahead of Tokyo!
“I’m sorry to those who were hoping to see me run this week but I’m looking forward to making you all proud in a few weeks time.”
Meanwhile Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare will be making her fourth appearance in the competition so far this year after racing in the 100m event at the opening leg of the competition in Gateshead on May 23 and Doha where she stormed to a 10.90 seconds personal season’s best.
The reigning African record holder will be competing in her second 200m race in the series after running 22.98 seconds in Monaco last week at the sixth leg of the one day, money-spinning meetings.
Okagbare will have reigning double Olympic sprint champion, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah (22.02 SB) and the American duo of
BRYANT, Dezerea Bryant (22.24SB) and Tamara Clark (21.98 SB) to contend with.
The trio have ran faster than the 33 year old Nigerian who holds a personal season’s best of 22.59 and will be bidding to make history as the first African woman to run a sub-22 seconds in the half lap event.