Bolt swears by ‘T20’ athletics

Melbourne – The athletics world is hoping to cash in on the success of cricket’s high-octane Twenty20 format with a new team event spearheaded by Usain Bolt (above) which starts today in Australia.

The inaugural Nitro Athletics in Melbourne, which will also be held on February 9 and 11, features non-traditional events such as middle-distance and hurdles relays.

World 100m record holder Bolt said yesterday: “We just want to make it more exciting so I’m looking forward to seeing the crowd reaction to what we are doing.”

Twelve events each evening will include an elimination mile, where the slowest runners are knocked out every lap until only three remain.

Male and female runners will also accumulate team points in a 60m dash, the 150m and a 2x300m relay.

Bolt will be supported by US Olympic hurdle champion Kerron Clement and sprinter Asafa Powell to try to draw in the crowds.

“I think it’s going to be great, it’s going to be like cricket, but Twenty20,” Bolt said.

The format sees an ‘‘All-Stars’’ team captained by the Jamaican sprinter compete against teams from Australia, China, Japan, England and New Zealand.

“Hats off to you guys for being brave enough to step out of the box that athletics has found itself in for donkey’s years,” England’s captain Christine Ohuruogu said. – AFP