Jamaica's Asafa Powell to skip Gaz de France meet as Olympics draw near

Asafa Powell (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, July 16) -- Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell is withdrawing from the Golden League's Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis meet due to a groin cramp, according to Yahoo Sports. Powell doesn't want to risk exacerbating the injury with the Beijing Olympics rapidly approaching.

A former champion in the men's 100-meter race, the Jamaican had originally selected the Paris competition to warm up before the Olympics, according to the official website of the Gaz de France meeting 2008.

The organizers of the Gaz de France competition are certain to be disappointed with Powell's withdrawal. They had billed the race, with Powell set to compete against Tyson Gay, in glowing terms. In the run-up to the event, they stated on Gaz de France's website: "Anxiously awaited on all tracks of the planet since their previous meeting at the Osaka Worlds last summer, American Tyson Gay