Tyson Gay crashes out of U.S. 200m trials

By Gene Cherry

EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) - World champion Tyson Gay's dream of an Olympics double ended in pain when he crashed out of the U.S. 200 metres quarter-finals on Saturday.

Already qualified for Beijing in the 100 metres, Gay had run only 12 strides, about 40 metres, of the 200 metres when he grabbed at his left hamstring and tumbled to track with a severe cramp.

He lay there for several minutes before he was taken away from the facility in a cart.

"Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring so I had kind of a bad feeling," Gay said in a statement.

"When I came off (the first part of) the curve the first two steps were fine, and then I felt it, sort of a pull, about 40 meters in," he added. "Once I was on the ground it didn't hurt as much as when it happened."

He went immediately to his hotel room to begin treatment with ice and compression.

"I'll just get it worked on for a few days," said Gay, who apparently suffered no other damage.

The injury was a major blow to the U.S. hopes in Beijing since under the strict qualifying procedure of the trials only the top three finishers make the Olympic team regardless of circumstances.