Injury hampers ex-Gibbs High star Trayvon Bromell's Olympic track efforts

Trayvon Bromell, the former Gibbs High standout who is considered one of the favorites to medal in the 100 meters at August's Olympics, sprained his left Achilles tendon last month and will not run until the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.

The injury happened before a meet in Rome on June 2. Bromell was scratched from the 100 in Rome but ran the 200 and finished seventh. He has spent the past two weeks recovering from what he called a Grade 1 sprain in the tendon.

He has progressed from jogging to running on an antigravity treadmill.

"I'm healing pretty fast," Bromell said. "I'm taking it one step at a time, though."

He said he would not compete in another meet until the trials, which start July 1 in Portland, Ore.

"I'm going to come in fresh for the trials," Bromell said.

Still, the injury slows the momentum Bromell has gained in the past year. He tied for third with Canada's Andre De Grasse in the 100 at the World Championships last summer, finishing behind two-time defending Olympic champion Usain Bolt and American Justin Gatlin.

In March, Bromell won the 60 meters at the World Indoor Championships, beating favorite Asafa Powell of Jamaica.

This isn't the first time Bromell, 20, has dealt with an injury.

In his first three seasons at Gibbs, Bromell broke both his knees, fractured a forearm and cracked a hip. His senior year was his only full high school season in track.

Those setbacks only strengthened his resolve.

Bromell came back stronger, focused and injury-free. In 2013 he was named the Gatorade national boys track athlete of the year while at Gibbs. As a freshman at Baylor in 2014, Bromell won the 100 at the NCAA outdoor championships in a wind-legal 9.97 seconds to set the world junior record (under 20). He was the only sprinter in the field to finish in under 10 seconds and became the first freshman to win the 100 since Florida State's Walter Dix in 2005.

"Dealing with previous injuries is only going to help me come back stronger from this one," Bromell said.

But the timing could not be worse. Bromell, though, said the injury would not prevent him running in the trials.

"I'll be there," he said.