onengine.com

Not in the figurative sense, but in an all-too-real way—a shocking sprawl to the ground that cost America’s best sprinter an Olympic spot in the 200 meters and made him look like less than a sure thing, health-wise at least, with the Beijing Games five weeks away.

Gay suffered what his manager called a severe cramp in his left hamstring at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials Saturday and had to be carted off the track. He was at his hotel later, being treated with ice.

“It was just one of those things,” Gay said in a statement released through USA Track and Field.

Gay already has qualified for the Olympics in the 100 meters, but his chances at doubling are gone. Now, the nervous wait begins to see if it was, indeed, just a cramp, and how that affects his training over the next month.