Bolt bets his belly after retirement

Usain Bolt’s coaches have joked that he will develop “a belly” within two years of retirement, but he says he has no doubts about hanging up his running spikes.

Bolt, 30, will retire after the World Championships in London in August after a sensational career in which he has amassed eight Olympic gold medals, 11 world titles and three world records.

“Everybody wants me to continue, but it’s not as simple as it is. I’ve done what I wanted to do. I’ve done great in the sport,” Bolt told the BBC on Saturday.

“People just want to see more and more, but you as a person have to decide that this is it. I don’t want to continue and then start losing, because I hate losing.”

Though famously fond of the high life, Bolt says he does not intend to lose control of his waistline once he stops competing. “I have a bet with my managers. They’ve given me two years before I get a belly,” he said with a chuckle. “I can’t let that happen.”

The sprint race is not the only standout event of the now-tradi tional Doha curtain-raiser for the league — this year spread over 14 meetings in 13 different countries — but is given an extra edge coming as it does in a World Championship season.

Both athletes will have their eyes on London in August, when they will take on the legendary Usain Bolt in his international farewell, but for now battle com mences in Doha.

MIXED-GENDER RELAYS AT OLYMPICS?

Mixed-gender relays are being considered as an Olympic event to ramp up interest in ath letics, a senior member of the sport’s governing body said on Thursday.

“As a sport we are looking at different formats,” Olivier Gers chief executive of the Interna tional Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), told AFP.

“It’s definitely something for the Olympics to look at and for the IOC to decide jointly with the IAAF. It’s definitely something we have been talking about for quite some time.”