Hurdles field wide open

Terrence Trammell a two-time Olympic silver medalist, was unable to finish heat five of the 100-meter hurdles Monday at the National Stadium in Beijing. According to USOC Medical Staff, Trammell suffered a moderate hamstring strain on his left leg. He was barely able to come out of the blocks, clearing the first hurdle and hobbling to a halt with the injury. The 100-meter hurdles was Trammell’s only event of the 2008 Olympic Games.

This knocks out two of the top contenders in the event as China's hope for the gold as 2004 gold medalist Liu Xiang is out with a hamstring injury.

“It was a freakish occurrence, such a freakish occurrence. All day yesterday I felt my hamstring twitch. It never cramped. I went and got treatment, and I hydrated very well. Today in warm-ups I didn’t feel bad at all. When it happened it was such a shock. It was the farthest thing from my mind. On my first run-through I felt good. I just needed to make an adjustment. Then on the second (run-through) it grabbed, and I felt it tightening up. I tried to see if I could just take the first hurdle, but I couldn’t. I felt like I was on the brink of something huge. I did everything I needed to do, and I couldn’t have done anything else. This is truly how it was supposed to be. This definitely answers my question about 2012 in London. You can guarantee I will be there. The only thing for the Davids (Oliver and Payne) to do now is to make the podium and shock the world.”