It was a rough start to the 2012 Summer Games for Portsmouth, Virginia native and defending men's 400m Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt, as the track star had to withdraw from his 400m heat Saturday morning due to injury. Via the sports arm of the BBC:
BREAKING: The defending Olympic men's 400m champion LaShawn Merritt pulls outduring his heat
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 4, 2012#BBC2012
Merritt had originally injured his left hamstring two weeks ago in Monaco, but had been receiving treatment in the weeks leading up to the London Olympics with the hope of gutting through the preliminaries and being healthy in time for the 400m finals, and a chance to defend the gold he earned in Beijing.
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