Dage Minors has been left frustrated after being forced to withdraw from the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix on Sunday because of a knee injury.

The 27-year-old enjoyed the ideal preparation after being crowned the male winner of the four-part Swan’s Running Club Legends Race Series, with victory in the final event, the Bermuda Healthcare Sir Stanley Burgess 5K two weeks ago.

However, Minors has since admitted to feeling discomfort in his right knee during and after the race, which has since failed to settled down.

As a result, the middle-distance specialist, who produced an impressive performance at last year’s Grand Prix when finishing third in the men’s 1,500 metres, will not be in action at the Flora Duffy Stadium for the event which features stellar names such as men’s 200 world record-holder Noah Lyles and Olympic gold medal-winner Asafa Powell, of Jamaica.

“Unfortunately, last week after the last race in the Swan’s Legends Series, I started to feel some pain in my right knee,” said Minors, who will also miss out on making his debut in the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby on May 26.

“Since early this year, May was always going to be a big month, between the USATF Bermuda Games and the Bermuda Day derby and I was looking forward to competing in both of them.

“The injury has impacted my preparation for these races tremendously as I haven’t been able to train for close to a week.

“I’ve been to the physio and thankfully it doesn’t appear to be anything major or an issue of concern, but with that being said, I won’t be able to compete in either event.

“What makes it worse is that both events are on home soil and the Grand Prix was a chance to compete in a gold-ranked event live on television and have the chance of competing for some valuable ranking points.

“It’s just really unfortunate, but I’m just trying to stay positive.”

Despite his frustration, Minors has already turned his attention to regaining full fitness in time for the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador next month.

“Right now, the main focus is finding out what is causing the pain, getting back healthy, building back fitness, and racing again next month as we progress to the CAC Games and the rest of the summer,” he added.

“I’m looking at the bigger picture and so while I could try to line up in the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby, I know I have an important year ahead with the CAC Games, Pan American Games and then looking to try to qualify for the Olympic Games next year.

“The frustrating thing is the Grand Prix event held points that could have helped towards Olympic qualification, but the key is to now look ahead and focus on what is most important for my career.

“It was not easy to pull out of both events but I had an honest conversation with my coach and I know in my sport the most important thing is the need to prepare properly for events and I’ve not had that opportunity, so it was not worth the added risk.”