World champion Tyson Gay has pulled out of Friday's eagerly-awaited Golden League 100m showdown with Olympic champion, and world record holder, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, organizer Wilfried Meert said. After training on Thursday, American Gay, who has been dogged by hamstring troubles which sabotaged his Olympic Games dream in Beijing where he failed to make the final, said he withdrew as he didn't want to risk further damage. Gay, who had been due to face the two fastest men in the world for the first time in a 100m race, suffered his injury at the US Olympic trials in July and has yet to fully recover. The 26-year-old now intends to focus on his preparations for defending his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles at the 2009 world championships in Berlin. Bolt, who stunned the Beijing Olympics with gold medals and world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, now faces one rival who has plenty to prove at the Golden League meeting. Powell illustrated he was still a sprinting force by running 9.72sec at Lausanne on Tuesday, just 0.03sec outside the world mark that Bolt set at the Games on Aug. 16. "It's not a problem for me, it will make the race more exciting. I can only say I will do my best on Friday," said Bolt as he reflected on Powell's blistering time in Switzerland. "After Brussels I want to go back home. I haven't been back to Jamaica since the Games and I'm in a hurry." Since Beijing, Bolt has shown no sign of slacking, running 9.83sec in Zurich and 19.63sec for the 200m in Lausanne. Bolt has met Gay only once over 100m, the Jamaican beginning his current period of ascendancy with a 9.72sec world record in New York in May, ahead of Gay, who ran 9.85sec. Bolt, a newcomer to the 100m this season, has met the former world record holder Powell on just three occasions in their careers. He has 2-1 record, with Powell having taken a narrow victory in Stockholm just prior to Beijing. Powell leads Gay over 100m by 5-1 - his sole defeat coming in the 2007 world championships final. While that should prove to be the major attraction for the spectators, both Kenya's 800m Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic will be looking to seal their share of the million dollar Golden League bonus. Jelimo has simply been in a league of her own this season and last week in Zurich posted the third fastest time ever, though, she believes that while the world record is within her grasp it will be more likely to come next season instead of this one. If the two remain perfect in the six Golden league meets, they will split the $1-million pot. Vlasic came into the Olympics on a 34-competition winning streak, an overwhelming favorite to take gold. Yet she faltered when it counted, losing to Belgium's Tia Hellebaut in a close final, where a countback on 2.05 meters made the difference. And Vlasic should have no doubt who the 50,000 fans at the King Baudouin stadium will root for on Friday. Hellebaut overcame early season tendon trouble to peak at the right moment and give Belgium its only gold at the Beijing Games. After already winning the 2006 European title over the favored Vlasic, the Belgian proved again she was at her best where Vlasic seems to falter on big occasions. Throughout the season, Vlasic had been chasing the golden jackpot, Olympic gold and a world record of 2.10 meters. She will be lucky to escape with a share of jackpot on Friday.
