Usain Bolt World Championships 2017 Hamstring Tear Case Study
Usain Bolt is a household name in the world of Olympic sports, especially in track and field. Being no stranger to world records, he has gathered numerous accolades and achievements over his career spanning from 2004-2017. Bolt is also the only sprinter to win gold in the 100m and 200m for 3 straight Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016). He is also the reigning world record holder with 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m. However, all great careers have an end, and Bolt’s was during the World Championships in 2017 during the 4x100m relay when he suffered a hamstring injury.
World Athletics Championships 2017 4x100m Relay:
Being an extremely popular event, the 4x100m relay is an electrifying race to witness, especially at the World Championships. In London on August 12, 2017, Usain Bolt was set to run as an anchor (4th) leg for Jamaica along with Omar McLeod, Julian Forte, and Yohan Blake. As the race began and eventually shifted to the final leg, Bolt was already chasing behind the U.S. and Great Britain teams. Gold was given to Great Britain as they placed first with 37.47 seconds, but Jamaica’s team resulted with a DNF, as their anchor fell to the ground without crossing the finish line.
In the final race of his monumental career, Usain Bolt experienced a tear in his left hamstring as he was chasing down his opponents in the 4x100m relay. Shortly after the meet, Bolt tweeted the details of his injury due to accusations that he supposedly faked his hamstring tear:"Sadly I have a tear of the proximal myotendinous junction of biceps femoris in my left hamstring with partial retraction. 3 months rehab."
Hamstring (Biceps Femoris) Tear:
The biceps femoris is a muscle of the thigh located at the posterior (back). Just like the biceps brachii, the biceps femoris consists of two heads, the long head and the short head. It is the strongest of the 3 main hamstring muscles and is responsible for flexion, external rotation, and posterolateral stability of the knee. Usain experienced a tear in the bicep femoris, which is a common injury among sprinters due to the strong forces being applied from the legs without muscles being able to support such force.
Hamstring Injuries are Identified By Three Different Grades:
Grade I: High signal intensity around the tendon or myotendinous junction but no disruption.
Grade II: High signal intensity around or within the tendon or the muscle along with fiber disruption involving less than half the width of the tendon or the muscle.
Grade III: Tendon or muscle disruption greater than half of the width of the involved tissue.
Bolt experienced a Grade III tear, which is the most severe biceps femoris tear.
Treatment:
Despite the loss during his final professional race, Bolt was still optimistic and dedicated to his treatment. During the recovery phase, he received immediate medical care and started the rehabilitation process to heal his hamstring. Recovery for Bolt involved a specific treatment plan consisting of rest, physical therapy, and rehabilitation exercises to regain strength and flexibility in his bicep femoris.
Over the next few months following his injury at Worlds in 2017, Bolt worked with physical therapists to properly recover from a Grade III biceps femoris tear. Although his professional career as a world-class sprinter was over, Usain Bolt still endured through his recovery process with the same determination he had in his prime.
Bolt is now retired with 14 world championship medals, the most achieved by a male Track & Field athlete, accompanied by the Men’s 100m and 200m world record. Though many young sprinters such as Noah Lyles and Erriyon Knighton are aiming to beat those records, Usain Bolt is still the reigning world record holder in those events.
Sources:
Bull, Andy. “Greatness of Usain Bolt Burnished Even with Bittersweet Final Appearance | Andy Bull.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Aug. 2017, www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/13/greatness-usain-bolt-burnished-injury-final-aappearance.
Chavez, Chris. Usain Bolt Tore His Hamstring in Final Race at World Championships ..., Sports Illustrated, 17 Aug. 2017, www.si.com/olympics/2017/08/17/usain-bolt-tears-hamstring-world-championships-final-race.
Jesse Washington, TheUndefeated.com Senior Writer. “Let’s Remember Usain Bolt, Not This Other Bolt We Saw at Worlds.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 12 Aug. 2017, www.espn.com/athletics/story/_/id/20326247/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-2017-usain-bolt-finishes-career-unlikely-fall.
Verschueren, Gianni. “Usain Bolt Fails to Finish 4x100m Relay Medal Race at IAAF World Championships.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/2727118-usain-bolt-fails-to-finish-4x100m-relay-medal-race-at-iaaf-world-championships#:~:text=Usain%20Bolt’s%20career%20on, IAAF%20World%20Championships%20in%20London.&text=Hosts%20Great%20Britain%20took%20the,a%20time%20of%2037.47%20seconds.