Bloomfield plays down severity of injury, out for 3 weeks
Akeem Bloomfield could be out of action for up to three weeks following a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan on Monday.
Bloomfield, who collapsed on the surface during his 200m race at the Miramar Athletics meet in Florida last Saturday, said the injury is not as bad as it looked.
“No tear or major damage to the muscle,” revealed Bloomfield.
He continued: “Just a glute tightening up along with the hamstring with a lot of inflammation. The doctor says I’ll be out for two to three weeks.”
Bloomfield, who has a 200m personal best of 19.81 and 43.94 over 400m, is seen as one of Jamaica’s medal hopefuls heading into the Tokyo Olympics.
He is the third fastest Jamaican over the 200m this season as his 20.75 places him behind Chevannie Hanson (20.67) and Xavier Nairne (20.73).
However, he has being plagued by injuries since his Kingston College days and Saturday’s incident was another setback for the promising runner.
But the MVP International star remains optimistic that he will be back in action for this season as he is awaiting a second opinion on the injury.
“Yea it looks bad on camera…not too bad though it seems,” he pointed out.
Bloomfield, who won silver with Jamaica’s 4x400m relay team at the 2019 Doha World Championships, was competing in only his third race of the season.
He opened on March 20 with an easy win in the 200m at Tropical Park Elite Sprints Meet, clocking 20.75 and followed that up with a second place finish in the 400m in 45.78 on April 4.
The 24-year-old Bloomfield has left the door open as to which event he was hoping to compete in at the National Trials and by extension the Olympics.
But, with his latest setback, only time will tell whether the talented runner, who has four Diamond League victories under his belt, will get the chance to make his first Olympic team.
— Howard Walker