Usain Bolt withdraws from Diamond League meetings with leg injury

KINGSTON - Six times Olympic champion Usain Bolt announced on Tuesday that he has pulled out of the Diamond League meetings in Paris on Saturday and Lausanne on July 9, due to a left leg "discomfort".

Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after winning the 200m at the IAAF Diamond League Grand Prix track and field competition in New York June 13, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The 28-year-old sprinter has been feeling discomfort in his left leg since his last competition in New York on June 13, according to a statement on his website.

He has been diagnosed with a blocked sacroiliac joint, "which is restricting his movement and putting pressure on his knee and ankle," the statement said.

"I'm disappointed not to be able to compete in Paris and Lausanne. I love running at these meetings but at the moment I am unable to compete at 100%," Bolt said in the statement. "I look forward to getting back into full training as soon as possible."

But he will soon resume full training to defend his titles in the 100m and 200m at August's World Championships in Beijing after spending couple of days on treatment in Munich, said the statement.

Bolt has been struggling with relatively poor performance since the start of the season during which his best record was 10.12 seconds for 100m and 20.13 for 200m.

His last race in New York, clocking 20.29 in a 200m, was more than a second off his world record of 19.19. He said then that he felt good physically but was unsatisfied with what he described as "probably one of the worst turns I've ever had in my entire life".

This is the latest setback for the world's fastest man, following his last-minute withdraw from the Jamaica National Senior Championships last Thursday.