Eugene, Oregon:

Stephen Francis, coach of world long jump champion Tajay Gayle, says that he is less than optimistic about his chances of defending the title at the World Athletics Championships which starts on Friday.

STAR Sports spoke to Francis at Lane Community College, where Gayle had his training session on Thursday, and the coach said that his main concern was that the athlete has difficulty sprinting.

“At the moment, from what I observed, he cannot really sprint,” Francis said. “If he comes out tomorrow and he can’t sprint, I doubt if he is going to turn up for the event. We will see what happens tomorrow. A miracle may occur.”

Gayle is still recovering from the bone bruise injury that he suffered at the National Championships in late June. Gayle said on Monday that a decision would be made on Friday, based on training.