Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica suffered minor injuries Wednesday when his BMW skidded off the road and overturned in a ditch, his manager Norman Peart said in a statement in Kinston.

Bolt "had a thorn stick him on the soft part of his left foot, after he stepped out of the car which overturned in a ditch off the highway," Peart said.

"He was taken to the Spanish Town Public Hospital, where he was treated. He has been sent home for recovery."

Bolt, 22, won the gold medals in the 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m relay at the Beijing Games last August, setting world records in all three events.

The car accident occurred on Highway 2000, one of Jamaica's newest highways, at about 1:30 in the afternoon.

Police said the vehicle was damaged after apparently skidding on the rain-slick road, but neither Bolt nor the unidentified woman traveling with him was seriously hurt.

The Jamaican star was scheduled to compete in an IAAF Area permit meet in Kingston this weekend, and was slated to compete in a street race over 150m at the Great CityGames in Manchester, England, on May 17 and in a meeting in New York on May 20 as he builds up for the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in August.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)