Bolt in great shape as he launches bid for ‘triple-triple’
History within Jamaican’s grasp
THE celebrity status of Usain Bolt has reached such feverish levels that even his parents held their own press conference in Rio yesterday.
Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt reported that their son had told them he was in the shape to claim an unprecedented ‘triple-triple’ of sprint titles.
‘He said: “Mom, if I wasn’t ready, I wouldn’t be here because I’m not into the losing thing. I’m ready,”’ said Jennifer. It will come as welcome news to athletics fans and those charged with protecting the sport’s reputation. For them, a victory for twice convicted drugs cheat Justin Gatlin would be nothing short of a disaster.
Against the odds, Bolt emerged victorious when it seemed to all and sundry that Gatlin had his number at the Beijing World Championships last year. The Jamaican had gone into the event below-par after a succession of minor injuries, while Gatlin was flying, topping the rankings over the 100 metres and 200m. But on the biggest stage, Bolt seems to come up with the goods. Even a stumble in the 100m semi-final in Beijing could not trip him up.
Despite not always topping the world rankings, he has not been beaten at a major championships for nine years. He comes into Rio as only the fourth fastest man over 100m and fifth quickest over 200m but the psychological edge he gains over his rivals from his fearsome reputation alone is considerable. Bolt is already the most decorated sprinter in history with nine World Championships and six Olympic gold medals but if he can reclaim his 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m titles at his final Olympics, it will complete his legend. British athletics great and Olympic decathlon gold medallist Daley Thompson told Sportsmail: ‘Usain Bolt will do it again in the 100m, 200m and relay. ‘He’s physically so much better than all the other guys. You know if you can run 9.58sec and you’re not feeling great, you can still run 9.80, maybe even 9.72 in a final. ‘If he’s not injured he won’t have any problems. You don’t want Gatlin to beat him in the 100m, or LaShawn Merritt in the 200m. How is Merritt running faster at his age, anyway?’ American Merritt, who tops the world rankings in 200m, is another with a cloud over his head. A former world and Olympic 400m champion, he has flourished over the shorter distance, running 19.74 at the USA trials in Eugene, Oregon in July. But scepticism will always accompany his performances after Merritt, 30, blamed a positive drugs test in 2010 on an over-the-counter penis enhancement product which he claimed contained a banned substance.
He is just another shady character Bolt, who is often billed as the saviour of the sport, will have to conquer.
If Bolt is to claim another three titles he will need to run eight races over just seven days and at the age of 29 — making him one of the oldest sprinters in the field — there are questions about whether his body will hold up to such scrutiny.
But the word around his camp is that he is in shape to run 9.7 in the 100m.
Bolt has said he is aiming to break his own 200m world record of 19.19 set in Berlin in 2009.
At his age many think it unlikely he will go that quickly again but the speed of the cutting-edge Mondo track installed in the Joao Havelange Stadium could help.
It is the same surface which has been newly installed in London’s Olympic Stadium, where American Kendra Harrison took 0.01sec off a 28-year-old world record in the 100m hurdles at the Anniversary Games last month.
In the first athletics final in Rio, Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana broke a 23-year-old world record over 10,000m, so it augurs well for fast times over the coming nine days.
After Bolt pulled out of his national championships last month with a sore hamstring, many feared the worst. But a trip to German doctor Hans-Wilhelm MullerWohlfahrt seemed to do the trick as he ran 19.89 over 200m in London last month.
He will compete in the first round of the 100m today not expected to produce fireworks. A win, any which way, will do.