GLASGOW — Yohan Blake experienced a setback on his return to full fitness Friday, pulling up during the 100 metres at the Glasgow Grand Prix, stumbling to the track and leaving in a wheelchair.
Although missing much of last season with hamstring troubles, the double Olympic silver medallist told the BBC that only cramp prevented him finishing the race rather than anything more serious.
Blake’s fresh discomfort did, however, show the Scottish public just why he had already declared he wouldn’t be returning to Glasgow later this month for the Commonwealth Games.
Fellow Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade, who was already planning to come back for the games, won the sprint in 9.97 seconds ahead of American Mike Rodgers.
"I came here to execute and then the time speaks for itself, that’s all I can do," Ashmeade said, whose compatriot Nesta Carter was third.
The 24-year-old Ashmeade will contest the 200 metres at the Monaco Diamond League meet next week before returning to Scotland for the multisport gathering of 71 former British Empire countries.
The pitch has been ripped out at Scotland’s national football stadium, Hampden Park, to facilitate track and field events. This Diamond League meet was shifted from London to help Glasgow prepare for the games and because the British capital’s Olympic Stadium is being overhauled.
Unlike the packed crowds that welcomed Usain Bolt to London last July, the Olympic great chose not to participate — only tweeting his thoughts Friday — and there were thousands of empty seats in Glasgow.
Abdominal pains forced Mo Farah to withdraw, and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia won the 5,000 in the British Olympic champion’s absence.
The most notable home success came with Will Sharman clocking 13.21 seconds in the 110 hurdles as Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment, who set the year’s fastest time on Monday, was forced back into fifth.
American triumphs came when Tianna Bartoletta leapt 6.98 metres in the long jump, Francena McCorory clocked 49.93 in the 400, Reese Hoffa’s shot put reached 21.67, and Gia Lewis-Smallwood threw 67.59 in the discus.