One of the most hotly-anticipated races at this weekend's New Balance Indoor Grand Prix was the men's 1500, featuring a showdown between Olympic champ Matthew Centrowitz, US champ Craig Engels, and British 3:29 man Jake Wightman.
Now Centro is no longer listed on the start list on the meet website and meet director Mark Wetmore confirmed to LRC that he's out after tweaking his hip flexor.
It's a bummer. I was excited when I saw Centro's name among the entries. He's been injured fairly frequently over the last two years, and the fact that he was entered in a big-time race suggested he was healthy and ready to go. Unfortunately, that doesn't look like the case.
As of now, he's still scheduled to race the 1500 at the Texas Qualifier in Austin on February 27.
The 1500 in Staten Island should still be very good -- Engels, Wightman, Gregorek, Hunter, Hoare, Willis, and Kiwi phenom Sam Tanner.
https://www.nbindoorgrandprix.com/events-results/nb-mens-1500m/