Bolt to Miss Charity Match at Old Trafford

Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt will not be able to play in Manchester United Legends’ game against Barcelona at Old Trafford on September 2 due to injury.

It had been planned for the 30-year-old sprinting great, a lifelong United fan, to play in the fixture, which will raise money for the Manchester United Foundation.

However, Bolt suffered a hamstring injury as he ran the final leg of the 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships in London on Saturday.

The Jamaican – the world record holder in both the 100m and 200m – has had further scans on the injury, which showed the damage to be worse than anticipated.

Bolt, who also won 11 world titles, has now retired from sprinting.

Former United players Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Denis Irwin, Dwight Yorke, Phil Neville, Ronny Johnsen, Louis Saha, Mikael Silvestre, Jesper Blomqvist, Quinton Fortune and Dion Dublin are all expected to take part in the charity game.

Bolt tweeted an image of his muscle tear and said the injury will require three months of rehabilitation.
The Jamaican could only manage bronze in his penultimate race – the men’s 100m at London 2017 – before pulling up injured just as he began to hit top speed in his final event, the 4x100m relay, last Saturday.

It meant the 19-time global champion, recently described by Lord Coe, the president of athletics’ governing body the IAAF, as “a genius” akin to boxing legend Muhammad Ali, bowed out being helped off the track by his team-mates, barely able to stand upright.

“I don’t usually release my medical report to the public but sadly I have sat and listened to people questioning if I was really injured,” Bolt said on social media, before later deleting the posts.

“I have never been one to cheat my fans in any way and my entire desire at the championship was run one last time for my fans.”

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