Athletics: No need to panic - injured Donaldson

A leg injury has slowed down sprinter Chris Donaldson just a week out from his attempt to run faster than ever before.

The Dunedin 100m and 200m runner will rest over the weekend after aggravating an old achilles tendon strain in training.

He played down the injury yesterday as nothing more than a frustrating bump on his path to the Olympic startline.

"There's no panic - I've done all the hard work and it's just one of those bizarre things that happen," Donaldson said yesterday.

His first event, the 100m heats, begins next Friday.

Donaldson came into the athletes' village last week carrying a slight hamstring twinge, and medical staff believe he may have set off his old achilles problem through overcompensating for the hamstring.

Athletics team manager Ken Simpson said Donaldson would hopefully return to full training on Monday.

"We've got the best sports medicine staff right here looking after it so it's been well-managed."

Meanwhile, high jumper Glenn Howard had a full workout yesterday without being hampered by the foot injury he suffered during the week.

Team coach Steve Hollings watched Howard train.

"Steve could see there was no holding back," Simpson said.

*Chris Donaldson begins his 100m challenge on Friday morning.