Bolt battle to be fit and firing in London
USAIN BOLT flew to Germany yesterday for an appointment with unconventional doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in a bid to get his farewell season back on track ahead of the World Championships in London in five weeks. The sprint legend is fast running out of time to find his form and fitness after admitting his sluggish 10.06sec performance in the 100metres in Ostrava on Wednesday was hampered by a tight back. The problem is not considered overly serious, as demonstrated by Bolt making two attempts at the long jump for his own amusement at the conclusion of the Golden Spike meet. But he revealed the issue with his back after a second underwhelming performance in 2017 followed his 10.03sec run in his season-opener in Jamaica earlier this month. Bolt was scheduled to visit the clinic of Muller-Wohlfahrt for treatment ahead of his final warm-up run in Monaco in three weeks. He said: ‘I know he will fix every problem. All I need to do is train hard and get myself into some shape. I’m going to see the doctor in Germany and continue training. ‘I tell you guys year after year, one run doesn’t really matter to me. It always comes down to the championship. For me it is all about getting myself into great shape and that is the focus for me right now.’ The eight-time Olympic champion, 30, also backed South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk to replace him as the track’s biggest star after the Olympic 400m champion broke Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 300m in Ostrava. He is also the only athlete to run sub-10sec in the 100m, sub-20sec in the 200m and sub-44sec in the 400m. Bolt said: ‘For sure he is the next superstar. I think he really wants to be a sprinter. He is showing he is ready for the challenge. He is really down to earth and a great person. He listens and he wants to be good. He is on the right track and if he continues like this he will take over track and field.’ Mo Farah, meanwhile, admitted he was rusty after running 26 seconds outside his personal best in his solid but unspectacular win in the 10,000m in Ostrava. The four-time Olympic champion, who is chasing a 5,000m and 10,000m double in his last track meet in London, said: ‘I still need to do a lot more work. I’m not quite there yet and it showed. I was a bit rusty. There is a bit more work to do to sharpen up. Hopefully I’ve got enough time.’
31 BOLT’S 100metres time of 10.06sec in Ostrava was the joint-31st fastest this year. It was some way behind this year’s fastest time of 9.82sec set by America’s Christian Coleman earlier this month.