United States

Gatlin, Bolt Won't Race in 4X100 Preliminary Relay

The Jamaicans are also resting Usain Bolt for the first round of the Olympic 4x100 relay

The U.S. announced its Olympic 4x100 relay teams for the first round and there's no Justin Gatlin.

But don't read too much into the pairings for Thursday's race — teams don't always trot out their top lineup for the preliminary round.

Gatlin didn't make it out of the 200-meter semifinal the night before because of a nagging ankle injury. The final is Friday.

"I felt my ankle coming home. So I tried to hold on as long as I could... Couldn't get the job going to the finals (in the 200). But, I wish all my teammates going to the final, good luck," said Gatlin.

The U.S. men's 4x100 preliminary lineup will be: Mike Rodgers to Christian Coleman to Tyson Gay to Jarrion Lawson.

The women's lineup: Tianna Bartoletta — fresh off her gold in the long jump — to Allyson Felix to English Gardner to Morolake Akinosun.

The Jamaicans are also resting Usain Bolt for the first round of the Olympic 4x100 relay Thursday. He does have a 200-meter final to try and win later in the evening. 

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So instead, the two-time defending champions will roll out Jevaughn Minzie, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and Kemar Bailey-Cole.

The Jamaican women's squad looks like this: Simone Facey, Sashalee Forbes, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

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