Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

World 100m record holder Asafa Powell has been ruled out of action for close to eight weeks because of a chest muscle problem and will not compete again until the National Athletics Championships, to be held from June 27-29 at the National Stadium.

"The pectoral injury that he has is going to prevent him from doing intense training for a little while," Paul Doyle, Powell's manager, told The Gleaner yesterday in a telephone interview from the United States. "He pulled a muscle (pectoral) in his chest."

Not worried

Doyle also said Powell, who last weekend pulled out of the 114th Penn Relays in Philadelphia, had earlier battled a knee injury.

"We think he needs to get more training in before he starts competing," he added of the 100m World Championships bronze medallist.

Powell is currently doing rehab in Florida and though he will be out of action for two months, the management staff is not worried about his readiness for the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.

"He is doing rehab right now but he will be back in training, fully, in about a week" admitted Doyle. "I don't think it is going to affect him much.

"The important thing is the races between the Olympic Trials and the Olympics. Those are the much more important races, so I don't think this is going to have much impact on it at all. If anything, it might keep him a little fresher."

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