American Sprinters do not trust Usain Bolt.

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American sprinters believe the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt is getting an unfair advantage for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil and they are publicly voicing their opinions.

Usain Bolt injured his hamstring during the Jamaican Olympics trial and could not participate in the finals. As Jamaicans hope and pray that their world record holder will make a quick recovery and be able to represent them in Rio, American sprinters have a completely different opinion.

When it comes to injuries, Jamaica’s rules are much less restrictive than the United States. The United States allows the top three finishers in each event to qualify, with no exceptions for injuries or past performances.

With Jamaica’s rules, however, Bolt can earn his spot in the 100 and 200 if he can show he’s fit enough; that judgment call has to be made by July 18, when Olympic rosters are due.

If Bolt thinks he is fit enough to run in Rio, the person who wouldn’t allow him on the team would have to leave Jamaica and seek refuge in some far away country, maybe Iceland.

Because of this rule, American Mike Rodgers believe that Bolt is not really injured and is just taking advantage of the Jamaican rules in order to train and rest.

“I feel like it’s a cop-out. He should run like anybody else,” said Rodgers, the 2009 U.S. champion at 100 meters. “But at the end of the day, he’s Bolt. He’s the Olympic champ, he’s the world champ. Until someone beats him, puts him in his place, he’s going to do what he wants to do.”

Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin are also not buying that Bolt is injured, in fact they think they have seen this from Bolt before only to be whipped by the Jamaican when it really counted.

In 2012, Bolt ran at Jamaica’s nationals, but finished second to Yohan Blake in both the 100 and 200, not far removed from a minor car crash and dealing with some leg issues. Bolt was injured in the lead-up to world championships last year, but nonetheless edged Gatlin in the 100 and blew by him in the 200.

Now, this.

“It’s a tradition,” said Gay, who once was Bolt’s main challenger.

Gatlin said years ago, he might have heard about an injury to Bolt “and thought I hit the lottery.” What did the injury do to his thought process this time?

Nothing,” Gatlin said. “Being a veteran, you can’t let that change you.”

Gatlin didn’t want to get sucked into a conversation of whether he’d like to see Bolt at his best when he gets to Brazil later in the summer. The Americans still have to get through two more rounds of the 100 on Sunday to secure their spot on the Olympic team.

It’s a format they’ve long dealt with and accept, even if it adds some strain, coming only six weeks before the games begin.

“If I was Bolt in Jamaica, I’d probably pull out, too,” said Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist at 200 meters, who now coaches American sprinter Jeneba Tarmoh. “I know my training isn’t up to where I want it to be, so I’d let them race and I’ll just go home and train. I know they’re going to put me on the team. You can’t do that here. If you could, I’m sure there’d be a lot of people who’d pull out.”

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