Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => What about Track & Field => Topic started by: Socapro on September 28, 2011, 07:10:38 PM
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As the World’s Fastest Man sprints around the globe making various charity appearances and giving interviews, etc, I've decided to create a thread featuring these appearances and what he has to say on various T&F topics so here goes!
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/Usain-Bolt-talks-rivals-at-charity-event
Usain Bolt talks rivals at charity event
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
BEVERLY HILLS, USA (AP) — Usain Bolt said he was kidding when he said "all the tutoring stopped" after training partner Yohan Blake ran the 200 metres in 19.26 seconds earlier this month.
http://www.youtube.com/v/NKXhPIQe9Xk
"I was laughing when I actually said it," Bolt said yesterday.
Blake's time in a meet at Brussels was the second fastest 200 in history, just 0.07 seconds off Bolt's world record.
Bolt was in California to raise US$100,000 for his foundation and talked about his false start at the world championships and his plans between now and next summer's London Olympics.
Bolt said he believes people are looking for controversy.
He and Blake are countrymen, and some believe it's Blake who's Bolt's toughest competition in London.
Bolt said it wasn't true.
"Everything's right with me and Blake," he said before calling Blake "the future of Jamaica. He's the one. ... If he beats me, so be it. I don't want him to."
Bolt said no one in particular is his biggest rival and that he doesn't focus on any single competitor.
"First they said it was Tyson Gay, and then they said it was Asafa Powell. Then all of a sudden, they said it's Blake," Bolt said.
"You can't focus your energy on one person, and then they drop out. What do you do? I focus on the seven people in the lanes with me."
Bolt also looked back at last month's default out of the 100 metres in Daegu, South Korea, for jumping the gun, an event that caused him to rethink the sport's policy of disqualifying anyone who false starts.
He said it never was a problem for him because he had never done it before.
Now, "they really should go back to one false start and charge it to the field. It's easier. Somebody makes one mistake and everybody can relax."
Up next for Bolt is a vacation to Las Vegas this weekend, a place he has never visited.
Training for the Olympics begins next month. Once the Olympics come, he has a goal: not just run fast enough to win the gold medal, but to amaze and leave everyone awestruck.
"I want to go to the Olympics and wow people," he said. "I want to be a legend."
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http://www.trackalerts.com/news/5799-gay-faces-difficult-times-next-season-bolt
Gay faces difficult times next season - Bolt
Wednesday, 28 September 2011 15:16 By Anthony Foster, anthonyfos@gmail.com
Usain Bolt, the 100 and 200 metres record holder, said it's going to be very hard for Tyson Gay when he returns to the track next year.
In June, Gay, the second-fastest man in history, pulled out of the US Championships, which ended his 2011 season. Gay's manager Mark Wetmore confirmed at the time that the American record holder was forced to withdraw from the championships after he was unable to warm up due to a hip and adductor problem on his right side.
This Bolt hinted is no simple injury, which forced him to come to the conclusion that things may not be the same on his return.
"I've been listening around, and I think it's going to be really hard for Tyson. Coming back from a hip injury … I think he's still in rehab now and will be in rehab for a while. I just think it's going to be very hard for him to come back next year."
Gay beat Bolt in the men's 200m at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, but lost the Berlin World Champs 100m to the Jamaican.
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Usain Bolt: 'Tyson Gay hates my guts' (2010 Interview) :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Agip3HTUReI
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Usain Bolt working on possible 9.4x for 100m @ London Olympics!
http://www.youtube.com/NR/1/v/IzEJ9Slw4TA
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http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/bbc1_acquires_usain_bolt_documentary/#comments
BBC1 Acquires Usain Bolt Documentary
Posted at 7:40 pm on October 4, 201
Titled Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive, the two-part 2-hour long documentary centered on the Olympic and World 100 meter record holder, has been picked up by BBC1.
Director Gael Leiblang has been following Bolt around over the last year (and will continue to do so), filming him exclusively as he prepares for the London 2012 Olympics, intimately in his home environment with his relatives, friends and coach (part 1, available in early 2012), as well as the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, as Bolt prepares for the games, and eventually participates in them (part 2, available immediately after the 2012 Olympics).
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http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/bbc1_acquires_usain_bolt_documentary/#comments
BBC1 Acquires Usain Bolt Documentary
Posted at 7:40 pm on October 4, 201
Titled Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive, the two-part 2-hour long documentary centered on the Olympic and World 100 meter record holder, has been picked up by BBC1.
Director Gael Leiblang has been following Bolt around over the last year (and will continue to do so), filming him exclusively as he prepares for the London 2012 Olympics, intimately in his home environment with his relatives, friends and coach (part 1, available in early 2012), as well as the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, as Bolt prepares for the games, and eventually participates in them (part 2, available immediately after the 2012 Olympics).
http://www.youtube.com/v/qmwAVcmVYs4
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Usain Bolt with the World's fastest 100m Wine!! ;D
http://www.youtube.com/v/0N4VcTWa0uM
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Well, I propose a fair exchange:
Bolt train a Trini sprinter in the 100m
The Trini teach him how to wine.
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Usain Bolt talks about staying focused & achieving his goal!
http://www.youtube.com/v/vCBRzkJ5eu8
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http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite5_1_19/10/2011_411174
Usain Bolt: I want to become a legend
Jamaican sprint recordholder reminds Kathimerini that Greek state still owes him money
By George Georgakopoulos and Spyridoula Spanea
ekathimerini.com , Wednesday October 19, 2011 (20:51)
If in the cartoon world Lucky Luke is the man known to shoot faster than his shadow, in the real world Usain Bolt is the only man whose shadow has trouble catching up with him.
Kathimerini chased the Jamaican sprint superstar and managed to get him to stay still for a few minutes, only to be stunned by the targets that the world recordholder in the 100, 200 and 4x100 meters has set for his future.
Fast and snappy in his answers, just like on the track, Bolt doesn’t waste any time before voicing his thoughts. The false start in the 100-meter final in the recent World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, was a letdown for the sprinter but he hasn’t let it hold him back.
“It was disappointing not to defend my 100 m title, but I was happy to win the 200 m and 4x100 m and then run the world’s fastest 100 m time in Brussels,” he said, referring to the meet back in September where he clocked 9.76 seconds.
Asked how the false-start rules could be improved, he appeared to accept the responsibility for his mistake, saying, “I don’t really have a problem with the rules.”
- How do you think you’ll look back on your experience in Daegu after a few years’ time?
- There is no point dwelling on it. I’m just moving on and aiming for the Olympic Games next year.
- How far do you think you can take the 100 m and 200 m records?
- I mainly concentrate on winning titles instead of breaking records. Next year is all about the Olympic Games.
The appeal of the athletics world’s biggest event for the 25-year-old star appears to be inspiring him in other directions as well. Asked whether he would be tempted to try matching Jesse Owens’s and Carl Lewis’s four gold medals in one Olympics by having a go at the long jump too, he admitted: “I would like to try it one time in the future as I think I could do well in it.” However, he does not intend to pursue breaking Michael Johnson’s 400-meter record just yet.
The charismatic figure that he is, Bolt savors people’s attention and revels in it like a young child. At the age of 25, having already come so far, the question is how much more he thinks he can achieve. Living up to his “Lightning” nickname, the response is immediate, not to mention thunderous: “My aim is to become a legend and to do this I want to keep winning Olympic and World titles.”
Similarly, Bolt has no qualms about calling himself the best sprinter ever, stressing that “I am the fastest of all time, ain’t I?”
And yet, when playing cricket at school in the parish of Trelawny, northwestern Jamaica, one doubts he could have imagined what the future held for him.
“I started off playing cricket and then my teacher advised me to try sprinting. I had a very happy childhood. I was a very active child,” he told Kathimerini.
Despite the medals, the world records and the huge amounts of money that accompany them, the sprinter still seems to have kept his two feet on the ground, metaphorically speaking, of course. “I think I am still the same person. I have the same family and do the same things. I still have the same friends as I always had and see them regularly,” Bolt, also known to be a fan of reggae, clubbing and beautiful women, said.
- Do you always train as hard, or do you sometimes reach the point where you’ve had enough?
- To be successful in track and field, you have to train very hard and be focused.
- What is your response to those who say that your records are out of this world?
- Thank you -- that is a nice compliment.
Greek account to settle
Bolt still has some accounts to settle with Greece, though. The Jamaican bullet has taken part in meetings in this country, but is yet to be paid for taking part in the 2009 World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki.
- Would you compete in Greece again, considering the Greek state’s failure to pay you?
- I hope they will pay the money owed soon.
- How much money does the state still owe you from the Thessaloniki meeting in 2009?
- I do not discuss my finances in the media.
Despite its outstanding debt, the athlete appears to have a positive opinion of Greece: “It is a nice country -- good weather and I hear you have a lot of nice islands, although I haven’t visited them yet.”
Jamaica is also a rather small country which enjoys great weather; however the Caribbean island has come to dominate the sprinting world in recent years. What is Bolt’s explanation for that? “Jamaica has a lot of talent and nowadays everyone wants to be a sprinter. We have great coaches, good weather and inspiring role models.”
When discussing soccer, his hobby, he steps down from his superstar status into that of an ordinary fan who also loves playing the game. In recent months he has even claimed he would like to get more serious about it one day, so Kathimerini put him on the spot.
- Could you really play football on a professional level one day? Are you as good with a football as you are on the track?
-I would like to try to play soccer when I retire. I don’t know what level I could play at but I would love to give it a go.
- Would you really ask for a trial at Manchester United?
- I support Manchester United and it would be a dream to play for them, but their standard is very high.
- Will United be able to beat Barcelona this year?
- I hope so -- they look good so far this year.
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http://allsportsja.com/editorials/10/24/2011/what-it-takes-be-legend-bolts-quest.html
What it takes to be a Legend. Bolt's Quest
If Usain Bolt REALLY wants to be a legend, he would attempt to win four gold medals at the London Olympics next year.
By Lex 19
Forget what you’ve heard about Usain Bolt deliberately false starting in the 100 metres at the recently concluded World Championships in Deagu because he was somehow afraid he would be upstaged by his young training partner, Yohan Blake.
Forget too that supposed 19.26 second fastest of all time 200 metres that Blake ran at the season ending Diamond League meet in Brussels. Either the wind readings were off or the clock wasn’t working. Blake will never run that fast again. Heck, even perennial bridesmaid Walter Dix ran an out-of-worldly 19.53 in the same race. Something was definitely weird about those times.
Today’s athletes regularly do the unimaginable and so we tend to get bored with the stupendous, always looking for drama where there isn’t any. You won’t find any in London. Barring injury, Usain Bolt will not only win the sprint double in London next year, he will decimate the field, Blake included.
This will surely be an historic accomplishment. No man has ever repeated as Olympic champion in both events[1].
The sprint relay should also be a cakewalk as long as the Jamaicans get the baton around without a hitch. The US is no longer a threat given Tyson Gay’s hip issues. A more cynical observer may wonder about the legitimacy of the hip injury in light of the use of blood testing at the World Championships for the first time, but that’s outside my bailiwick. In any event, would anyone really be shocked if Gay never ran at a 9.7s level again? There’s nobody else to speak of from the US as Mike Rogers, is only the 102nd former US sprint champ to test positive for banned drugs and Walter Dix would have probably accomplished more winning as a running back at FSU, although the way the Seminoles played the past decade, maybe not.
So keeping count, that’s three gold medals in the bag for Mr. Bolt. That said, some might argue that for Bolt to truly distinguish himself as a legend he should attempt something truly remarkable, bringing home four gold medals from a single Olympic games. After all, even though most track and field aficionados discount the whole 80’s era in track and field as one steroid infested episode after another that made the steroid era in baseball in the 90’s look downright innocent by comparison, the record books show that Carl Lewis, (Mr. 'Who cares I failed drug test?') won four gold medals in 1984 and the truly great Jesse Owens did the same in 1936.
For Bolt to match this feat, he could either a) take up the long jump, b) run the event that many of his fans believe he was born to run, the 400 metres or c) run a leg onJamaica’s mile relay team.
Let’s eliminate the long jump possibility right now. Forget the fact that he’s never competed in the event at any level, Bolt would probably have a better chance of becoming the next Megatron in the NFL than beating either Dwight Phillips or Irving Saladino next year.
What about the flat 400 metres? To quote my good friend, Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend”. The schedule makes it impossible. The 100 metre semi-finals, final and 400 metres semi-finals will all be run on the same day. This sucks as Bolt could conceivably be the first athlete to sweep the sprints at a single games, but I digress.
The only reasonable option for a fourth gold medal is the mile relay. Let’s get the less compelling reasons out of the way first. Bolt’s 6-5 frame practically screams for the one lap event (see other Jamaican quarter mile greats over 6 feet, Herb Mckenley, Arthur Wint and Bert Cameron). Not enough?
How about the view that the Olympics men’s 400 metres remains the vestige of Jamaican athletic prowess in the hearts of old school Jamaican track observers, even if not actually so in the record books? (Shout out to Merlene Ottey).
For an event he admittedly doesn’t like too much, Bolt sure has done well at in the past. As a 15 year old he ran 48.28 to capture the silver medal at the 2001 CARIFTA Games. The following year, he set the championship record for the U-17 category with a time of 47.33 s which still stands today. He’s gone on to better his 400 metre best time to 45.28 set at the 2007 Gibson Relays in Kingston and so as not to belabor the point, I won’t harp on his 43.58 4x400m split on the anchor leg for his Racers club in 2010 too much.
Sufficed to say, that with only limited participation in the event, there is enough evidence that Usain Bolt could be a championship contender at 400 metres, if he ever took the event seriously.
So could Bolt actually run a leg on the relay and more importantly could the Jamaican relay team actually win? On the first front, Sebastian Coe and company have done their part. The schedule sees the 200 metre final run on August 9th with the 4x400 relay final the following day (Bolt would only run in the final) and the sprint relay final the day after. Hectic? Yes, impossible? No.
With one less round for the first time in Olympic history in the individual events, Bolt should be able to manage the workload.
On the second question, history says it will be tough for any team to beat the US. The US has won every Olympic mile relay since 1976 and the depth in the squad has historically been astounding. Still, if the US was ever vulnerable, it would be now. The two class US quarter-milers both have issues. Jeremy Wariner, the 2004 Olympic champion and 2005 and 2007 World Champion hasn’t been seen on a track since June, shut down with a toe injury and was last at true world beating form nearly four years ago. We know how this plays out, he’s done. The reigning Olympic champion, LaShawn Meritt got beaten soundly in Deageu by the 18-year old phenom from Grenada, Kirani James. Although Merritt somehow got clearance to compete at the Olympics from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, chances are he won’t be quite the same runner without his male enhancement products. This weakened state of US 400 metre running was on full display at the World Championships as only a strong anchor leg from Merritt allowed the US to eek out a close win. It was the narrowest margin of victory I can remember.
The Jamaican team of Allodin Fothergill, Jermaine Gonzales, Riker Hylton and Leford Green earned a bronze medal in Daegu, the first medal at the World Championships since 2005. The return to form of a consistent 44.5s Ricardo Chambers and the insertion of Bolt would set up a true humdinger in the final, to quote the timeless Ed Barnes.
So there you have it, Usain Bolt, already the most dominant, if not flamboyant sprinter of the modern era (with apologies to Mo Green and Michael Johnson), has a legitimate chance to take home four gold medals next year. With the ‘World Boss’ behind bars, he should have less reason to party. Let’s hope he’s more Jordan than Barkley and actually pushes himself to be the best he can be.
Lex 19 watches too much sports on television. That’s the extent of his knowledge. This does not prevent him from espousing on topics he knows very little about.[1] Archie Hahn won the sprint double in 1904 and the 100 metres in 1906. There was no 200 meter event that year. Carl Lewis doubled as 100 metre Champion in 1984 and 1988 but finished second in the 200m in Seoul.
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http://www.trackalerts.com/news/lead-stories/6011-honorary-doctor-usain-bolt
Honorary Doctor Usain Bolt
Friday, 04 November 2011 08:09 By Alfonz Juck
KINGSTON, Jamaica (eme news) - The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona will recognize five Caribbean icons at its Graduation ceremonies November 4 and 5.
They are: Minna Israel, Earl Jarrett and The Hon. Usain Bolt who will all receive the Honorary Doctor of Laws ( LLD) while Professor Lenworth Jacobs and Dr. Erna Brodber will receive the Doctor of Sciences (DSc) and Doctor of Letters (DLitt) respectively.
On Friday November 4 at 5:30 pm The Honourable Usain Bolt and Dr. Erna Brodber, will be conferred with honorary degrees along with graduates from the Faculties of Humanities and Education and Pure and Applied Sciences. University informs.
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http://www1.skysports.com/news/12040/7305022/
Bolt wants four golds
Schedule would allow Jamaican plenty of rest between events
Last Updated: November 12, 2011 6:38pm
Usain Bolt is targeting an unprecedented four gold medals on the track at next summer's London Olympics, adding the 4x400m relay to his usual schedule of three sprint events.
The Olympic champion in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m at the 2008 Beijing Games said on Saturday that if he is fit and if Jamaica can challenge for gold, he wants a place on the 400m team.
"If I can help to get them a gold medal, I will want to go on that team," Bolt said.
The last male athlete to win four gold medals at the Olympics was Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but one of those was in the long-jump.
Bolt said he has already started his Olympic preparations at "high intensity," fully fit after ending the season with a slight Achilles tendon tweak. Last year, back problems saw him miss part the season.
Running start
Even though Bolt's official personal best in the 400m is an unimpressive 45.28 seconds, his manager Ricky Simms said he had run a 43-split with a running start in a relay in a minor Jamaica meet two years ago. The individual world record stands at 43.18.
When asked if he wanted to run in the 4x400, Bolt said: "I've expressed that to my coach. If I am fit and I think I can do it.
"I definitely would want to try because if I do as well as in Berlin, the 4x4 would top it off and even make it a little bit much better.
"I will probably be in good shape and I know the guys are really stepping up the 400 level in Jamaica.".
The Olympic schedule looks conducive to an attempt on four golds, since Bolt would only have to run the finals in the relays. After the 100m on August 5, he would not have another final until the last three days of the track schedule from August 9-11.
Award
Bolt was named the IAAF's male athlete of the year on Saturday despite his disqualification from the 100 metres final at the World Championships.
The 25-year-old false-started at the marquee event in Daegu but bounced back to take gold in the 200m and 4x100m relay.
"This season was a really trying season for me, I really had to work hard and stand up my game," said Bolt, who was also named athlete of the year in 2008 and 2009.
"There were some close races this season, I really had to push myself. So this (award) really means a whole lot to me, because I really came out there hard this year, and all the hard work I put in paid off."
Sally Pearson of Australia was given the women's award after winning 10 of 11 races in the 100m hurdles, including taking gold in Daegu.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/12/usain-bolt-4x400m-olympics
Usain Bolt wants 4x400m relay spot in bid for four golds at London Olympics
• Jamaican champion Usain Bolt aims for four golds in London
• 'If I can help get them a gold, I will want to go on that team'
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 November 2011 11.52 GMT
Usain Bolt says he wants to go for four gold medals at next summer's London Olympics, adding the 4x400 metre relay to his usual schedule. The defending Olympic champion in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m events said on Saturday, at a gala in Monaco where he was named international athlete of the year, that if he is fit and if Jamaica can challenge for gold he wants a place on the long relay team, even though he has never competed in the event at the top level.
"If I can help to get them a gold medal I will want to go on that team," he said. The last male athlete to win four gold medals at the Olympics was Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Bolt and the Australian hurdler Sally Pearson were named athletes of the year at the International Association of Athletics Federations awards. Bolt, winning the accolade for the third time, bounced back from disqualification for false starting in the world 100m final to retain his 200m title, before anchoring Jamaica to win the 4x100m relay in a world record time. "I really had to push myself – there were some ups and downs throughout the season," he said. "For me this one means a lot, I'm really proud."
Pearson had a phenomenal season, winning 15 of 16 races and taking the world 100m hurdles title in 12.28sec, the fastest time in 19 years. The 25-year-old is the first Australian to win the award since it was introduced in 1988.
Bolt also had a clear message to his rival, friend and training partner Yohan Blake heading into Olympics year that he will not relinquish his 200m title in London. Blake emerged as a serious threat to his Jamaican compatriot's sprint dominance when he won the 100m title at the world championships in August, taking gold in a final in Daegu that produced the most drama before the gun when Bolt was disqualified for a false start.
The 21-year-old Blake followed that up less than three weeks later with the second fastest 200m of all time. "Initially I was shocked because he's not really a great corner runner … but he's a great athlete and with great athletes you can expect anything," Bolt said in Monte Carlo on Saturday. Bolt admitted that his younger compatriot worked "a little harder" than he did. "I've said this to Yohan, and to a lot of my friends,: the 200 is my favourite and I won't let Yohan beat me over 200 metres," Bolt said. "The 100 [metres] maybe, but I've worked hard to perfect that event [the 200] over the years so I've told him already I won't let it happen."
Their competitive rivalry, Bolt said, shone through in training, day in, day out. "From the first time he walked into our camp he's been competing with me. Sometimes he beats me – it doesn't matter, it's only training. He's a really competitive person … I have to explain to him that he's got to relax sometimes. "He's young and excited but fun to be around. We laugh every day, his personality is great and it's great to have him as a training partner."
Bolt atoned for his false start in Daegu by comfortably retaining his 200m title before anchoring the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to win gold in a world record time. The 25-year-old returned to training three weeks ago at a "high intensity" level. "Injury-wise I'm good," said Bolt, whose 2010 season was curtailed by injury that he said meant this year's campaign revolved around him "getting back into shape".
"No problems so far," he said. "Hopefully I can keep it that way. I'm doing my core exercises, my back exercises, hamstring exercises … everything just to make sure the injuries stay away this season."
With the London 2012 Olympic Games looming, Bolt said he was "fully focused". "This is a big season and you have to try and get ahead of the game because a lot of athletes have started their season early. "The Olympics is the biggest stage for an athlete, I know the value of a gold medal … when the Olympics come around, athletes show up on the day so I'm focused on everyone."
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http://www.trackalerts.com/news/lead-stories/6090-qi-wont-let-yohan-beat-me-over-200m-bolt
"I won’t let Yohan beat me over 200m - Bolt
Saturday, 12 November 2011 23:40 BY Vijay, fosteraa@ymail.com
MONACO - Despite Yohan Blake's stunning 19.26 seconds performance - the second fastest ever over that distance - world record holder for the event, Usain Bolt, said he will not allow his rival to beat him over that distance.
Asked of Bolt at Saturday's IAAF Press Conference: "Is Yohan Blake capable of breaking the 200m WR?
Avoiding speculation on the WR, Bolt replied:
“I’ve said this to Yohan already and have said to a lot of my friends, the 200 is my favourite event and I won’t let Yohan beat me over 200 metres. In the 100 maybe, he might have a chance, but the 200 is my favourite event.
"I’ve worked hard to perfect it over the years. I told him already that I won’t let it happen.”
Bolt ran 19.30, a then world record to win the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but returned exactly one year later to run 19.19 to win the World Championships title.
Both train with Glen Mills at Racers Track Club in Kingston.
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/Johnson-doubts-Bolt-s-chances-of-4-golds-in-London#ixzz1dqTNHYs7
Johnson doubts Bolt's chances of 4 golds in London
Bolt making unwise decision to attempt 4x400 metres relay at London Olympics says MJ
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
LONDON, England (AP) — Former Olympic 400-meter champion Michael Johnson doubts that Usain Bolt will be able to win four gold medals at the London Games.
Bolt, who won the Athlete of the Year award on Saturday, said he would like to add the 4x400-meter relay to his repertoire for next year's Olympics. The Jamaican won the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay golds at the 2008 Beijing Games.
"You can't train for the 400 as well. It would be an absolute distraction and the training wouldn't work," Johnson told BBC radio today. "I think he could be the world-record holder at 400 meters but he's said that he has no interest in training for it, which I can understand — it's a difficult race to train for."
Bolt has long been rumored to add the 400 to his schedule, but has said he has no interest in the longer race and prefers to stay with the short sprints. He has also said he could one day compete in the long jump.
The last track star to win four gold medals at the same Olympics was Carl Lewis, the American great who won the 100, 200, 4x100 relay and long jump at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
At this year's world championships in Daegu, South Korea, Bolt won the 200 and helped Jamaica win the 4x100, but he was disqualified because of a false start in the 100 final. Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake won in his absence.
"I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to repeat as an Olympic gold medallist in the 100, 200 and the 4x100, but the 4x400 is going to be tough," said Johnson, who won the 200 and 400 golds at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 400 in Sydney four years later.
"Without him the Jamaican team certainly doesn't have enough 400 runners to beat the United States. They could beat the US possibly with him on the team if he was training for the 400, but he can't just step onto the track and run a 44 or a 43-second split just off 100 and 200 training."
In order to have a chance of making the team, Johnson said Bolt will need to run some competitive 400s before the Olympics, which open on July 27.
"I don't see the Jamaican coaching staff putting him on the 4x400 relay unproven," Johnson said. "That means he's got to go out there and run some 400s during the season, in order to prove that he should be on that relay."
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Maybe Johnson hasn't seen this race where Bolt ran a mid 43 split on the last leg of the 4x400m relay for his club Racers in Jamaica last year!
http://www.youtube.com/v/TK2lPYfkG-8
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http://zeenews.india.com/sports/others/bolt-ready-to-prove-2012-naysayers-wrong_733680.html
Bolt ready to prove 2012 naysayers wrong
Last Updated: Sunday, December 11, 2011, 10:12
Salvo (North Carolina): Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt was quick to remind those who think young Jamaican training partner Yohan Blake will be the favourite for next year`s London Games 100 metres that he was still the man to beat.
"A lot of people have said guys are going to beat me but I am still number one. I am still the Olympic champion," the world`s fastest man told Reuters in a telephone interview from Kingston on Saturday.
"It doesn`t really matter what people say. I go out there and prove them wrong everyday," Bolt said from the set of a new Gatorade campaign that is launching early next year.
"That`s just one more challenge, and I enjoy challenges."
Former 100 metres record holder Maurice Greene stirred the pot last week by backing Blake to win the London Games` most anticipated race.
"If everybody competes like they did this year, I`d say Yohan Blake is going to win," the American told BBC Radio.
Greene made the same prediction ahead of August`s world championships in Daegu, where Blake won the 100 metres after Bolt was disqualified for a false start.
Things will be different in 2012, said Bolt.
"I am coming back from injury and working my way back up," said the world 200 metres champion who went undefeated in 2011 but never mustered the times he delivered in previous years.
Blake, meanwhile, raised eyebrows with his world title and a late-season 200 metres run of 19.26 seconds that was seven hundredths of a second outside Bolt`s world record.
The 21-year-old`s emergence has helped both sprinters, Bolt said.
"We train together and push each other to get better," said Bolt, who is four years older than Blake.
"Yohan is a very competitive person and he competes in training all the time," Bolt said. "But I am not really that much of a competing person in training."
"Some times we go at it (in training), but it is all fun and games."
The seriousness will come when they race, and if Bolt has his way, his 100 and 200 metres records of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds will tumble next year, hopefully at the Olympics.
"It would be very important, even wonderful if I could get my records at the Games," Bolt said.
"I really want to do that because that allows me to wow the crowd....but you never know what the weather is going to be."
Only if he breaks the records and defends his titles will he consider himself the best.
"A lot of people have done great things. For me to go back to the Olympics and get records and win again, that would make me in my books a legend," Bolt said.
"A lot of people already say I am, but I set high standards."
He may even go for gold in the 4x400 metres relay, something first mentioned several months ago.
"I have looked at the schedule now and the 4x4 comes (a day) before the 4x1 so I don`t think I would really want to chance it," Bolt said.
But he quickly added, "if I am fit enough, and Jamaica has a good team, I probably will try."
An individual 400 is unlikely until after the London Games, if then, except in training runs, Bolt said.
But long jumping may find a way onto his programme before he retires in 2016 or 2017.
"I definitely want to try it. I think I would be good."
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http://www.trackalerts.com/news/lead-stories/6316-bolt-for-400m-opener-in-february-
Bolt for 400m opener in February
Tuesday, 03 January 2012 17:09 By Alfonz Juck
KINGSTON, Jamaica (eme news) - Reuters reports that star sprinter Usain Bolt being healthy and on a new nutrition programme, plans to launch his run-up to defending his 100 and 200 meters titles at the 2012 London Olympic Games with tune-up races in Jamaica in February.
"I always run quarters (400m) before the season and I will be starting in February," Bolt said in a telephone interview from Kingston arranged by sponsor Gatorade.
"I think I will run at least two this season."
The options could be at Camperdown Classic on February 11 and Gibson Relays on February 25 and as in past seasons it could be individual or within a relay. When he will run his first sprint test of 2012 or meet up with training partner and 100 meters world champion Yohan Blake has not been determined, according to Bolt.
He said his first real outing could be at Jamaica Invitational on May 5 in Kingston.
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Johnson__Bolt_can_break_400-metre_record-136514913.html
Johnson: Bolt can break 400-metre record
Story Created: Jan 1, 2012 at 11:00 PM ECT
KINGSTON
Former American star Michael Johnson reckons Jamaican Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt can break his 400-metre world record.
Bolt, the 100m and 200m world-record holder, has indicated that he would like to add the 4x400m to his 100m, 200m and 4x100m schedule at the 2012 Olympics in London.
But his coach Glen Mills reacted by saying that Bolt would have to run the 400m and finish in one of the top spots at Jamaica's Olympic trials in June in order to qualify outright for the mile-relay team.
There are no plans in place for Bolt to run the 400m at the trials and the decision to include him would rest with the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA).
"He was a 400m runner before he was a 100m and 200m runner," Johnson told ESPN. "He has always been great as a 200m runner, but he was a good 400m runner when he was very young.
"He has the build to be a great 400m runner and he certainly has the speed. Without a doubt, I think if he chose to make the switch at some point in his career and decided he was going to train for the 400m, I am certain he would break the world record and probably run under 43 seconds and become the first person to run 42 seconds," Johnson added.
"I've heard all types of rumours, whether he is going to run 400m or 4x400m relay. I think obviously he's the best sprinter in the world, he's the best there has ever been. He is an incredible athlete and I think he will be focused and ready to go next year to defend his titles at 100m and 200m, which he has said he wants to do and (Jamaica) have the best 4x100m relay team in the world at this point.
"Beyond that, anything else is just speculation and I think we will just have to wait to see if he decides to do anything else. But I think he is in a great position to repeat (2008) and I wouldn't put my money on anyone else but him for 100m and 200m," said Johnson, who is the holder of the 400-metre record in 43.18 seconds. —CMC
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http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20120112501200400.htm
A sprinter par excellence
With an awesome reputation following his superhuman performances at the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin Worlds, Usain Bolt is a cinch to win the sprint double at the 2012 Games in London. In fact, no one would be willing to stick his neck out against the Jamaican coming up with yet another world record.
By K. P. Mohan
Usain Bolt captivated millions of fans around the globe with his awesome performances at the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin World Championships in 2008 and 2009. Despite a shock disqualification and elimination from the 100m final at the Daegu World Championships last August, the Jamaican remains the firm favourite to take the sprint double at the 2012 Olympic Games.
The only question is will he set another individual world record in London?
Expectations, following his superhuman performance at the Beijing Games, did not weigh him down in Berlin a year later when he produced unbelievable world records as though for the asking.
Bolt was far ahead of our times in Beijing and Berlin in both the sprints. Can he slice precious fractions from those intimidating timings of 9.58s and 19.19s in the two sprints next year even if we take it for granted that he can win both races in the Olympics?
Having built up such an awesome reputation since Beijing, no one would be willing to put his neck out against the Jamaican coming up with yet another world record.
It had looked all too simple in Beijing. He had gone into the last Olympics as a world record holder in the 100 metres, but then the whole world would sit up and take note only after his phenomenal exploits at the Bird's Nest.
Bolt had lowered countryman Asafa Powell's world record to 9.72s while winning the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 31, 2008. It was only the fifth competitive 100m sprint of his career! In less than three months he would win the Olympic gold, shaving 0.03s off his world record.
His thigh-slapping antics, experts agreed, had cost Bolt precious fractions in Beijing.
Ato Boldon, former world champion in the 200 metres, said he would put it at around 9.59s if Bolt had not wasted time celebrating as he neared the finish line.
That is what Bolt did a year later, in Berlin. He ran a 9.58s to stun the world all over again.
What is Bolt capable of? That question has lingered from Beijing to this day.
“I said I could run 9.4sec. I think it will stop at 9.4 but you never know,” the Jamaican had said after his 9.58 in Berlin.
“Running 9.5sec is definitely a big thing. I'm proud of myself because I'm the first man to have done that.
“I honestly don't know how fast I can go.”
Recently, the Sydney Daily Telegraph quoted Bolt as saying, however: “But it (9.4s) is not an obsession. I already have the world record.”
Mathematicians and scientists have never agreed on the ultimate men's 100m world record. A study in 1998 put it at 9.37s; one in 2009 placed it at 9.51s without having taken Bolt's Beijing and Berlin times into consideration.
Bolt's coach Glen Mills said after the Beijing 100 that his trainee could have run a 9.52 had he not relaxed towards the end. Experts were reluctant to agree with the coach's estimated timing then, but were unsure of their own projections after Bolt lowered the record further in Berlin.
“This is his first year of running the 100 metres,” Mills had said in Beijing. “In two more years he should be peaking at this distance and by then I am certain he will be down to there.”
Being a tall man (6ft 5in) he never was a great starter. In fact in Beijing, with a reaction time of 0.165m/s he was only the seventh fastest in the final; in Berlin, at 0.146m/s, he was the sixth fastest.
However, for his 19.19s in the 200 metres in Berlin, Bolt was the best in the field. When you look at that 200 record that is more awesome than anything else in the record books.
Whether he was best off the blocks or not, everyone agreed Bolt was beyond reach in the 100 metres once past the half-way mark. His stride length was unmatched and his speed towards the closing stages difficult to match.
That is until now. Some of the former champions have started doubting Bolt's infallibility even as some others stick to the argument that he is all but unbeatable.
“If everybody competes like they did this year, I'd say Yohan Blake is going to win,” former Olympic and world champion Maurice Greene told BBC Radio recently.
“If you think about the close races he's had, he's lost (them),” Greene said.
But then Bolt has not lost many after his amazing Beijing sprint. If you exclude the Daegu disaster due to a false start, he has only been beaten once, after 14 finals in about two years, beginning from August 16, 2008, in Beijing through to Saint-Denis, France, on July 16, 2010. The solitary loss came in Stockholm on August 6, 2010, to American Tyson Gay, who with his 9.69s in Berlin 2009 is the second fastest man ever. Gay admitted Bolt was physically not at his best at that time.
Bolt has a 5-1 record against Blake, the only loss to be counted being the one in Daegu through disqualification. Blake won there in 9.92s and later clocked an incredible 19.26s for the 200 in Brussels, the second fastest ever behind Bolt's world record. But the two did not meet in 2011 prior to the Worlds. Some critics even suggested that Bolt, not so sharp as before and no so fit during the season, might have betrayed his nerves as he came off the blocks ahead of the gun in Daegu.
There was also a suggestion that a twitch that Blake showed in television replays might have triggered Bolt's false start.
In the 200, Bolt has a more enviable record. He has been unbeaten since the Golden Spike in Ostrava on June 12, 2008. He also has six of the top 10 timings over the distance in the all-time list.
Michael Johnson believes Bolt is still the favourite for the London double. “But I think he is in a great position to repeat (2008) and I wouldn't put my money on any one else but him for 100 and 200,” the American legend was quoted as saying.
Despite being the first man to hold the World and Olympic gold medals and the world records in both sprints, Bolt does not count himself among the legends. Not yet.
“I think I'm one of the greats, definitely,” Bolt told BBC Sport last July. “But (to be) a legend in the sport I think I need to defend my (Olympic) titles. That's my personal goal.”
The 25-year-old Jamaican added: “People have crowned me a legend already. I haven't really placed myself that high yet.”
He has plans to try out something different. Perhaps the 4x400m relay as he goes for a possible four-gold haul.
“I definitely would want to try because if I do as well as in Berlin, the 4x400 would top it off and even make it a little bit much better,” Bolt recently told the media in Monaco.
The last athlete to win four gold medals in an Olympics was Carl Lewis in 1984. Lewis also has back-to-back 100m titles in Olympics, thanks to Ben Johnson's disqualification in 1988.
Michael Johnson said the other day that Bolt had it in him to break his world record for the lap, of 43.18s set in Seville, Spain, in 1999. Bolt, in his opinion, could even go under 43. The Jamaican has a best of 45.28, clocked in 2007 but he does not relish running the lap.
Even though the new IAAF regulations would allow seeded stars to avoid the opening round in the sprints, it is doubtful whether Bolt would contemplate the individual 400 in the Olympics.
The longer relay might be a different proposition. Of course, with the world champion, US, quite capable of holding off a challenge as it did in Daegu, there could be no certainty that Jamaica might sneak in. With Usain St. Leo Bolt around, you never know for sure, of course.
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http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=573397.html
Published: Jan 3, 1:32p ET Updated: Jan 3, 2:07p ET
Usain Bolt prepares for new year of racing
Three-time Olympic champion eyes February opener, downplays rivalry with Blake
By Reuters
SALVO (Reuters) - The world will not need to wait long to get a glimpse at triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt's fitness for his highly anticipated 2012 season.
Healthy and on a new nutrition program, Bolt plans to launch his run-up to defending his 100 and 200 meters titles at the 2012 London Games with tune-up races in Jamaica next month, the world's fastest man told Reuters.
"I always run quarters (400s)before the season and I will be starting in February," Bolt said in a telephone interview from Kingston arranged by sponsor Gatorade. "I think I will run at least two this season."
Some relay races will also likely be on the early program as Bolt returns to a more traditional warm up for high-powered sprint races later in the season.
An injury slowed the launch of Bolt's 2011 season until May, but previously he had always made test runs in late January or February to break up training.
"Last year was hard," Bolt said. "I started the season off a little bit injured. I had to change a lot of things."
But aside from a false start that cost him a chance to defend his 100 meters world title, the world record holder said he was pleased with the way his year ended.
"A lot of people may talk, but they don't know what I went through," said the International Association of Athletics Federations male athlete of the year.
"I came back at the world championships and I won a medal, I ran a fast time and I was unbeaten," said the lanky Jamaican who successfully defended his world 200 meters crown and anchored Jamaica to a world record in the 4x100 meters relay.
"So for me, last season was probably one of my best seasons that I have ever had taking into consideration the work that I could put in (and what) I had to go through."
When he will run his first sprint test of 2011 or meet up with training partner and 100 meters world champion Yohan Blake has not been determined, Bolt said.
"Definitely I will open in Jamaica," he said. "Otherwise I am not sure what I will be doing next season."
Any race against Blake, the hot new sprinter who not only claimed the 100 meters world title but ran the second fastest 200 meters of all-time last season, would be a spectator's delight.
But Bolt, at least publicly, tried not to attach special significance to any potential meeting.
"For me, it is all the same thing with everybody," said Bolt, who at age 25 is three years older than Blake. "It is not going to change anything for me.
"For me, it is a job. So if I have got to go out there and race against Yohan, it is OK," said Bolt, who has never lost to Blake.
A major fan of English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United, Bolt will be on view for American football fans on Monday when he helps launch a marketing campaign for sponsor Gatorade called "Win From Within."
The commercial, which aired during Monday's Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl games, also featured basketball's Dwayne Wade, tennis' Serena Williams, swimmer Ryan Lochte and soccer player Abby Wambach.
Bolt spent more than five hours on set for his role in the commercial and made a quick discovery.
"(Running a) 100 is much easier," he said. "Much, much easier."
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Usain Bolt Documentary Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/v/j6rSnZ_bJ8s
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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120605/sports/sports1.html
Bolt tells CNN: Gatlin spat across my lane
Published: Tuesday | June 5, 2012
USAIN BOLT, in a CNN interview with former Olympic and World champion Linford Christie of Great Britain, revealed on Sunday how American sprinter Justin Gatlin once spat across his lane in an effort to intimidate him.
Bolt, prior to his breakout season in 2008, was somewhat of a low-key 200-metre specialist that took a serious approach to his racing.
He, however, revealed how an incident with Gatlin in Zagreb changed that approach.
"For me, it never happened until Justin Gatlin," Bolt told CNN Olympic contributor Christie. "I ran once with him in Zagreb. He did something which was really funny to me.
"We were walking back and forward and he actually spat across my lane. And when he did it, I knew he was trying to intimidate me, and I found it really funny.
"I'll say I was worried back in the day ... . Now 'I know I'm better than you' so it's not going to bother me," Bolt added.
"Today it doesn't really bother me. I just go there, enjoy myself and relax. It's just one of those things where over the years the game has changed."
Bolt, the fastest 100m runner in the world this season with a time of 9.76 secs, holds both the 100m and 200m world records at 9.58 and 19.19, respectively.
You can click this link to view video interview on CNN website:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/01/sport/olympics-bolt-100m-london/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/THRILLING_FINISH-157999145.html
THRILLING FINISH
Bolt made to work for win in Oslo
Story Created: Jun 7, 2012 at 11:37 PM ECT
http://www.youtube.com/v/eJhoGKol6Tw
Jamaica's world record holder Usain Bolt blamed a new type of starting blocks after being made to work for victory in the 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo yesterday.
Bolt found himself in the unusual position of second, behind compatriot Asafa Powell with ten metres to go, before edging ahead to win in a meeting record of 9.79 seconds.
"The blocks have changed from last season," the Olympic champion told a news conference.
"For me, when I came on the blocks, the reaction was good but the execution–because I was less comfortable–execution from the blocks was not that good.
"I'm not very happy with my new blocks. I think I need to go back to the old blocks.
"When I get everything all right, I can really relax and be myself. Now there are a few things I need to work on, so in trying to get those things first and then I can get back to be myself," Bolt added.
After crossing the line, Bolt collided with a flower girl on the track, catching her as she stumbled and then hugging her with a big grin on his face.
Powell's time of 9.85 was his best of the season and Lerone Clarke completed a Jamaican sweep of the top three with a time of 10.10.
Powell, who had been well beaten by Bolt in Rome a week ago appeared much happier with his performance this time out.
"It was a season best, which is what I need right now, to keep improving," the former world record holder told reporters.
"This is not the Olympics and I wasn't really training for this event. This means that it (the Olympics) is going to be awesome."
Australia's 100 metres hurdler Sally Pearson, who like Bolt is red-hot favourite to win her event at the London Olympics, appeared none the worse for wear after her 29-hour trip to Norway with a comfortable victory in 12.49, equalling her world leading time.
http://www.youtube.com/v/OI2vPPvbdH0
The world champion led from start to finish and finished clear of American Kristi Castlin, who was second in 12.56.
Britain's former heptathlon world champion Jessica Ennis was disqualified from the event for a false start.
"My start was really good I thought. I started to fatigue a little towards the end which I think is quite understandable," Pearson told reporters.
"I travelled 29 hours to get here so I'm a bit jet-lagged but I'm doing well.
"I think I put myself in the position I want to be in, I like being chased so it keeps me on my toes and it keeps me hungry to stay being the best in the world," she told the BBC.
Double Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele's issues with form continued when he could only manage fifth over the 5,000 metres on a sunny evening.
Bekele, hoping for an unprecedented third successive 10,000 gold in London, has struggled with calf and knee injuries in recent years.
The Ethiopian world record holder clocked 13 minutes 0.54 seconds. His brother Tariku had led the race into the final lap but compatriot Dejen Gebremeskel made his move with 200 to go and won in 12.58.92 as Ethiopians took the top five places.
Olympic 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya strode away from the rest of the field in the final straight to win the Dream mile in 3:49.22 and compatriot Milcah Chemos recorded the fourth-fastest time ever of 9:07.14 when winning the women's 3,000 steeplechase
There was disappointment for home favourite Andreas Thorkildsen who was third in the Javelin with a best throw of 82.30 metres.
The event was won by Vitezslav Vesely of the Czech Republic. However, Olympic champion Thorkildsen fared better than German rival, Matthias De Zordo–the man who took his world title--who was fifth with 81.44.
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http://universalsports.com/2012/06/10/bolt-unhurt-after-minor-car-accident
06/10/2012 at 11:13am ET
Bolt unhurt after minor car accident
By Kayon Raynor
KINGSTON, June 10 (Reuters) – Jamaica’s 100 meters world record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt was involved in a car accident near his home on Sunday but escaped without injury, his publicist said.
Reports said the 25-year-old triple Olympic gold medalist, who will be the focus of world attention when the London Games start next month, had been returning home from a party in the early hours.
“Usain was in a minor accident in the Half Way Tree Area on Sunday morning after 5.00 and sustained no injuries,” Carole Beckford told Reuters.
She said the lanky athlete, who was driving a BMW, was resting at home.
Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper reported that compatriot and sprint rival Asafa Powell was also present, but in another car.
Bolt, also the 200m world record holder, and Powell both ran in the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday and are now preparing for the national trials at the end of June.
Bolt won the Oslo race in 9.79 seconds, colliding with a flower girl after he crossed the line, with Powell second with his best time of the season in 9.85.
Three years ago, Bolt suffered minor injuries when he crashed his sports car – also a BMW – on the outskirts of the Jamaican capital Kingston.
In that accident, his car flipped a few times before landing upside down in a ditch. Bolt injured his left foot as he stepped out of the car and was treated at a nearby hospital.
He then went on to win three gold medals at the Berlin world championships.
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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120617/sports/sports1.html
'Living legend' - Bolt outlines wording for victory speech at London Olympics
Published: Sunday | June 17, 2012
André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter
There may still be a few weeks left to go before the big show, but triple Olympic champion and world-record holder Usain Bolt has already thought about his Olympic Games victory speech.
Bolt, who set world records en route to winning gold medals in the 100m, 200m and as a part of Jamaica's 4x100m relay team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in a report carried by British publication Daily Mail, said: "At the end of London 2012, I want to go into the press conference and say before anyone asks me a question - 'You are now looking at a living legend'. That's what I want to say before that last press conference after my 200m final."
The Jamaican, who repeated his Beijing exploits at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin before winning gold in the 200m and 4x100m after false starting in the 100m at the most recent World Champion-ships in Daegu, South Korea last year, is currently getting ready for the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA)/Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) National Senior Championships, which gets under way in two weeks inside the National Stadium.
One of the athletes expected to keep Bolt on his toes at the senior championships is 100m World Champion Yohan Blake, who is expected to line up in both the 100m and 200m. Only Bolt's 19.19 200m world record is faster than Blake's 19.26 personal best, which was done on the circuit at the back end of last season.
'Just another athlete'
While accepting that Blake is motivated to pull an upset, particularly at the Olympics, as far as Bolt is concerned, Blake, who he actually trains alongside at the Racers Track Club, is 'just another athlete'.
"Yohan really wants to beat me at the Olympics so he's working hard and really pushing himself," said Bolt. "But for me he is just another athlete. I'm not worried, I know what I'm capable of. I know what I can do so all I have to do is go out there and do it."
Bolt has been in scintillating form this season as he is responsible for the three fastest times recorded so far this year with a season's best of 9.76, which was done in Rome a few weeks ago.
This performance came just a few days after a lukewarm performance in Oslo, where Bolt clocked 10.04, raising concerns in some quarters about his form going into the senior championships. Among the most concerned was his father Leslie, who Bolt shared, was one of the first persons he spoke to after the race.
"I don't really talk to my parents before a race. My mom has more confidence in me, but my dad stresses a lot, especially when he hears something about me.
"When I ran 10.03 I called him (father) and he said 'What's wrong with you?'"
Bolt will, however, enter the June 28-July 1 JAAA/SVL National Senior Championships as the overwhelming favourite to win the 100m and 200m double and move on to continue his dominance at the Olympic Games in London in just over a month's time.
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Bolt-ranked-63-on-Forbes-top-100-richest-sports-personalities
Bolt ranked 63 on Forbes top 100 richest sports personalities
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
JAMAICAN triple world record holder Usain Bolt has been listed at number 63 on the Forbes top 100 highest paid sports personalities list. Bolt earned US$20.3 million over the last 12 months, with most of his money coming from endorsements and contracts. His highest sponsor is sporting goods company Puma, which pays the athlete US$9 million annually.
Bolt reportedly earned US$300,000 for his on the track exploits over the last 12 months.
Heading the list of highest paid athletes is boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned US$85 million. Mayweather unseated golfer Tiger Woods from the top spot he held over the last seven years.
Woods is third on the list, with earnings of US$59.4 million.
Also included on the list are Indian cricketers Mahendra Singh Doni (31) and Sachin Tendulkar (78).
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By Chris Chase | Fourth-Place Medal – 2 hours 47 minutes ago..
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(AP)Usain Bolt will skip an Olympic tuneup event in Monaco due to a "slight problem," but vows to defend his titles in the 100 and 200 at the London Games against a field that includes the man who beat him twice this month in Jamaica, Yohan Blake.
His coach, Glen Mills, said that he withdrew Bolt after a "careful assessment" found a "slight problem" that he wouldn't elaborate on. He said this will give the runner "sufficient time for treatment at time to train and prepare for the Olympic Games in London."
As he said this, television and marketing executives worldwide reached for their bottle of Pepto. An Olympics without Bolt would leave a gaping hole in the second-week program in London. While the stories of Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin will dominate the first week, Bolt and Blake are expected to carry the second week of mass coverage. Losing those two finals and the most compelling part of the 4 x 100 -- when they team up for Jamaica -- would be devastating.
[ Related: Yohan Blake gets the best of Usain Bolt again ]
Bolt insists that he'll be there. "I am happy to have earned my spot on the Jamaican Olympic team despite the challenge," he said in a statement. "I will be in London to defend my titles in the 100, 200 and 4 X 100 meters."
Running in a competition the week before the Olympics was a questionable training choice in the first place. Runners don't taper for events like swimmers do and Bolt has a week from the Opening Ceremony to prepare for the 100. Why race beforehand and run the risk of injury?
[ Photos: Photos: Biggest upsets at the Olympic Trials ]
Practicality aside, saving his runs for London is better drama too. When you're an athlete like Bolt -- one whose dominated the sport for nearly a half-decade -- you need to draw on different motivation. Bolt has won three golds before. He's looking to do it again. What will drive him? Becoming the first man to truly win back-to-back 100s at an Olympics is solid. Defeating a young upstart and reclaiming the throne is even better. Superman always flies in at the last minute, right?
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http://www.whosay.com/usainbolt/content/339726?wsref=tw&code=vyh3GG5
UPDATE FROM GLEN MILLS AND USAIN BOLT
THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012
From Coach Glen Mills:
“Arising from Usain's participation at the National Trials in Kingston this past weekend where he had a slight problem, after careful assessment I have had to withdraw him from the Samsung Diamond League Meeting in Monaco on July 20 to give him sufficient time for treatment and time to train and prepare for the Olympic Games in London."
From Usain:
"I am happy to have earned my spot on the Jamaican Olympic team despite the challenge. I will be in London to defend my titles in the 100, 200 and 4 X 100 metres. I want to congratulate my fellow Racers Track Club Members along with the other athletes who made the team. I thank everyone for their support."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From Blake (via the wicked imagination of Socapro):
"Thank you Usain, I will continue to train hard and look up to you because you inspire me! Sorry that you strained yourself trying to beat me at our JA Trials, but I did as you told me which is to relax and not panic once I got ahead. I will continue to train harder than you and to take your great advice and that of coach Glen Mills as we get ready for London." I do apologise about your injury but that is why they call me the Beast!" ;)
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Stop-this-nonsense-Burrell-lashes-Bolt-critics--urges-support-instead_11887744#ixzz1zh34mkr5
'Stop this nonsense!' Burrell lashes Bolt critics
— urges support instead
BY LIVINGSTON SCOTT Observer staff reporter
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, Captain Horace Burrell, came out in defence of Jamaica track and field superstar Usain Bolt over what he called "unfair criticism" after the 25-year-old was beaten in both sprint races by Yohan Blake at the National Senior Trials over the weekend.
Speaking at the launch of the Sherwin Williams Women's Football League at the JFF offices on Tuesday, Burrell said the world 100 and 200 metres record holder has been the target of bitter comments since his recent losses, but said he was leading a charge to support the track and field icon at this difficult time.
"I have been listening to a number of comments and I think those comments are so unfair," he told the gathering.
"Usain Bolt has done so much good for us as a people and the fact that there was a slight disappointment in so far as the expectations were concerned... now I am listening to people turning against Usain and they should stop this nonsense," insisted Burrell, who wears a track and field hat as a vice-president of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA).
"Usain's going through a little patch right now, but why not instead encourage Usain and I am asking for encouragement," he added.
"So please, instead of tearing down Usain, let us build him up, because this is a time when he needs support from the entire nation and I am leading that charge and asking for full support for Usain," he said.
The football boss said all the athletes should be commended for the amount of work they have to put in and made special mention of Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown.
The rapid rise of Bolt's Racers Track Club training partner, Blake, has some people worried that the Olympic double sprint champion might have seen his better days.
With Blake winning the World Championship 100m gold in Daegu last year after Bolt was disqualified for false-starting, plus the twin victories over the world's fastest man at 'Trials', a cloud of doubt has gathered over the present physical conditioning of track and field's pin-up boy.
But Bolt's management team and some athletics experts believe that the sprint champion should be at his best for the London showdowns.
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Guess I was wrong.
Jamaica has piranhas...I mean fair-weather fans as well.
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Guess I was wrong.
Jamaica has piranhas...I mean fair-weather fans as well.
Bullshit talk from a bullshitter as usual.
Because people talk about what they see, hear and bserve does not mean that they are fairweather.
Is only brainless cretins blindly support anything or anyone.
Get that through yuh thick cabeza
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/track/wires/07/06/2090.ap.oly.ath.searching.for.usain/index.html
Bolt can't forget roots on the fast track to fame
Friday July 6, 2012
AP National Writer
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Finding out where Usain Bolt might be on any given day on his home island of Jamaica in advance of his trip to the London Olympics - that's not so difficult.
Finding out who Bolt really is - that's a trickier task.
Of course, he's the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder in the 100, 200 and 400-meter relay.
Almost everything else is open for interpretation.
Self-effacing everyman or pretentious star? Ultra-driven freak of nature or fundamentally laid-back fellow? Meticulous or reckless? Man of the people or a prima donna better appreciated from afar?
These are the type of questions coursing through the small Caribbean island since The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt pronounced his noble goal: Winning three gold medals again and returning home from London as nothing less than a "living legend.''
The search for answers might begin at the University of the West Indies, in a neighborhood on the northwest part of Kingston called Mona Heights.
"He comes here almost every day, and usually, you don't even know he's here,'' says Denzel Gordon, who mans the entrance to the swimming pool across the street from the track where Bolt trains.
Gordon points to a bunch of coconuts sitting on a table behind him: "He comes over when he's done running. Cracks it open himself. Drinks the water right out of the shell. Just like anyone else. You wouldn't even know it's Bolt.''
Across the street from the pool, it's not uncommon to catch a glimpse of Bolt warming up or running sprints on the blue polyurethane track, one of the nicer ovals in a country that loves its sports but has precious little money to finance them. There's a 30-foot-high fence with a padlocked gate that keeps uninvited guests from getting too close.
If word filters out that Bolt is there, a few dozen people, mostly students, might wander over to see what the World's Fastest Man is up to. If one of those people offers the security guard behind the fence a cigarette or two, the guard might point out a spot a little further down the fence line where there's a particularly good view.
"He has the hope of a nation in his hands,'' one of the onlookers, Alan Martin, said recently, before the nation's Olympic trials began. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk to him. He represents us very well. We all just want him to be very careful.''
Martin was so unnerved after Bolt's latest car accident, he sent him a letter.
"Just want him to know that he's a voice around the world,'' Martin said. "He's not just doing this for himself. Something like that happens, and it's very concerning.''
While track enthusiasts around the world talk about whether Bolt can run the 100 in 9.4 seconds or finish the 200 in less than 19 (the current records are 9.58 and 19.19), it's the car accident during the wee hours of June 10 that starts many of the conversations on the island these days.
His handlers called it a minor fender-bender, and there's no indication it was anything more. But given Bolt's history - three previous accidents, including one in 2009 that left him scrambling out of his totaled car in the bottom of a ditch - nobody's quite sure what to make of it except: What was he doing out at 5 in the morning?
"Many people believe he's trying to follow Asafa (Powell), who is more adept at cars,'' says track fan Junior Anthony Clarke, referring to another of Jamaica's famous sprinters. "He wants to prove that he's not only fast on the track, he's fast on the road. But Jamaicans would feel hurt if he does something to hurt himself. Because we feel like he and us are one.''
It was Powell's 100-meter world record of 9.74 seconds that Bolt broke for the first time in May 2008 and has since lowered twice more. Bolt has eclipsed Powell on the track, but Powell is viewed by many in Jamaica as the down-to-earth guy who's more like them. Or, as some like to say, the world loves Bolt; Jamaica loves Asafa.
"People say Bob Marley is the most famous person to come out of Jamaica, but then they'll say Usain's name in the same breath,'' says Bolt's agent, Ricky Simms. "He's a great ambassador for the country. But people are always quick to criticize, too. And this country, they like the underdog, so some of that can work against Bolt. You can't keep all the people happy all the time.''
Bolt, however, claims to try.
In his autobiography, he goes on at length about the responsibility of signing every autograph, of trying to fit in, at least as much as a 6-foot-5 superstar can in a society that adores him yet wants a piece of him at almost every turn.
To help quell this craving, Bolt might, on occasion, be spotted spinning records at his own place - a restaurant-sports bar-night club called Tracks and Records, where the DJ booth sits in a darkened corner in the balcony, overlooking a 200-seat main floor with TVs, a huge bar, a few "VIP'' areas and even a shop to buy Usain Bolt merchandise.
One waiter said Bolt shows up from time to time, but it's often early in the evening. He's known as a start-late, finish-late kind of guy, and it's never a huge surprise to spot him at a nightclub somewhere in the trendier area of New Kingston.
"I have to relax and enjoy life to get the best out of myself,'' Bolt wrote in his autobiography, in which he concedes he would have won many gold medals if they were handed out for partying. "If I did everything by the book, I'd be a very dull boy and I'm sure it would have a negative effect on my running.''
He likes cool cars and says he has two Hondas (involved in the minor wrecks), a BMW (besides the one he totaled), a Nissan GTR Skyline (he calls it his "Batmobile''), a Toyota Tundra (the prize for breaking the world record the first time) and an Audi Q7 (black, like all the other cars).
Stories about his diet? All true. Setting three world records on a strict intake of Chicken McNuggets. Happened. He's good about staying hydrated, though at times, he's as likely to fill up with a pint of Guinness - "It supposedly does you good because of the nutrients,'' he wrote in his book - as the endless supply of Gatorade that stocks his refrigerator thanks to a sponsorship deal.
One of his favorite dishes is his Aunt Lilly's pork, served with dumplings, banana and yam. As a kid growing up in Sherwood Content, across the island from Kingston in the rural parish of Trelawney, Bolt used to go to Lilly's house for the good food and maybe a break from his father, Wellesley, who was known as quite a taskmaster. "Bolt,'' his dad would yell, and the youngster knew he was in trouble.
The people who grew up with him in Trelawney still call Bolt "VJ,'' and he says he still goes back home when the stress of Kingston starts wearing on him.
He credits his upbringing in Trelawney, and most notably his father's influence, for instilling in him the work ethic that helped turn him into a champion.
"His parents brought a lot of discipline and respect for elders into the equation,'' Simms said. "He grew up in the country, so he was brought up like that. He's got good people around him. His coach has those kind of values, wants his athletes to act well.''
Like so many kids in Jamaica, Bolt played soccer and cricket and ran a little. By the time he was 12, though, it was undeniable: He was not an average kid.
So, off to William Knibb High School he went - a top school in Trelawney where he received a sports scholarship but had to work hard in the classroom to maintain it. As he neared college age, he attended the High Performance Training Center in Kingston to become a full-time athlete.
The high performance center is located within the University of Technology in Kingston, a 45-acre campus with about two dozen two- and three-story buildings and a rather unimpressive track that was overgrown with grass on a recent day in late June.
Bolt doesn't write kindly about his time there, saying he blossomed on the track when he left one coach there for another - Glen Mills.
It was Mills who helped Bolt develop a stretching routine for his scoliosis - he was born with one leg longer than the other - and has transformed him into the champion he is today.
Mills, along with a small stable of handlers, also are charged with the task of keeping Bolt's feet planted firmly on the ground, making sure he doesn't forget what got him to the top.
To hear Mills - and Bolt - tell it, that's a full-time job.
"The major thing that's been new for him is the increased publicity and public demand for interviews and sponsors,'' Mills said.
There's also been the newfound wealth, which allowed Bolt to buy a house on Long Mountain, Kingston's most exclusive neighborhood.
From the outside, it looks like a South Florida mansion. Inside, based on pictures in his book, it looks like, well, where any 25-year-old would live: Flat-screen TV and video games in the living room, a refrigerator stuffed with Gatorade and not much else, a few framed pictures, newspaper clippings on the walls and a table where he and his closest friends play dominoes before they go out at night.
"He's a down-to-earth guy,'' says 400-meter Olympian Jermaine Gonzalez, who trains with Bolt and became friends with him shortly after the move to Kingston. "Jovial. A people's person. Yeah, he could be a bit more serious, but that doesn't mean he's not serious. He's just never going to be the kind of guy who does nothing but track. He enjoys himself.''
At the recent Olympic trials, Bolt finished a surprising second to his training partner, Yohan Blake, in both the 100 and 200. A few days later, he pulled out of a tuneup race in Monaco because of an injury he deemed "minor'' - something he suffered at trials, where a trainer worked on his right hamstring moments after his second-place finish in the 200.
"I don't want to get into that,'' Bolt said that night, when asked about the leg. "I'm not far off. I can get it done.''
Bolt, Blake and Mills all conceded that Blake was the better-conditioned athlete coming into trials. That's not to say Bolt doesn't work hard. He is, however, one of those rare athletes who makes everything look easy, which sometimes can work to his detriment.
After his performance at National Stadium, there were questions about whether Bolt has fully grasped the challenge, and the challenger, for these Olympics.
"I never train for one person,'' Bolt said. "Everyone is talking about Yohan Blake and he is proving himself as one of the greatest. But for me, it's going back to training, getting back to work and getting done what I've got to get done.''
Those who can't get to the fence near the training track will have to wait until Aug. 4 to see where Bolt really stands. That's the night of preliminary heats in the Olympic 100 meters. The next night, if everything goes according to plan, he'll have the rematch with Blake. Americans Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin should also be there to challenge.
Until then, the story in track - as it has been for the last four years - is Bolt.
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100m by Usain Bolt - From the film USAIN BOLT : THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE
https://www.youtube.com/v/1k50oBkXxQU
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2170558/London-2012-Olympics-Usain-Bolt-use-ice-chamber-prevent-injuries.html
Usain books in for big freeze and will use ice chamber to prevent back injuries
By Laurie Whitwell
PUBLISHED: 22:00, 8 July 2012
Usain Bolt is considering using an ice chamber in London to guarantee his fitness for this month's Olympics amid fears a back injury has derailed his preparations.
The world's fastest man has flown to Germany especially to see Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and has pulled out of his final warm-up race before the Games as he strives to get his body right for the huge challenge of defending his 100 and 200 metre titles from training partner Yohan Blake.
And Sportsmail has learned that Bolt's camp are in discussions with a British company over the cryotherapy treatment, which aids athletes' recovery by encasing them in liquid nitrogen at temperatures of minus 140C.
The 25-year-old is said to be keen on stepping into Britain's only mobile ice chamber, which the Welsh rugby team used this year as they won the Six Nations.
The chamber, supplied by CryolabSports, is secured in a former police van and can be driven to wherever it is needed.
Those using it strip to their underwear and let the cold air chill their body for up to three minutes, during which time the skin temperature drops significantly but the core stays the same.
This boosts muscle recovery after exhausting training sessions and triggers the release of endorphins which help pain relief.
Bolt, whose aura of invincibility was punctured by two defeats to 100m world champion Blake at the Jamaican trials last week, could use it right away to help him recover from the injury which forced him out of the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 20.
He could alternatively decide to wait until he travels to London for the Games and use it between the rounds of his three events - the 100m, 200m and 4x100m.
Mo Farah is likely to use the chamber during the Olympics as he runs for gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m.
He regularly uses one supplied by Nike at his home in Eugene, Oregon and CryolabsSports have offered their services on these shores.
Farah has said: 'You're not stiff or anything, your body's just freezing cold. But you recover right away. The following day - that's when you feel a lot better.'
His coach Alberto Salazar is a long-time fan.
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt__feeling_good_-162018575.html
Bolt 'feeling good'
Story Created: Jul 10, 2012 at 11:02 PM ECT
LONDON
Usain Bolt is back in full training and "feeling good," his agent said yesterday, after concerns over an injury following successive defeats at the Jamaican Olympic trials.
Ricky Simms told The Associated Press in an e-mail that Bolt is fit ahead of the defence of his titles in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the London Games, which open on July 27.
The world record holder in both sprint distances, Bolt lost to Yohan Blake in the 100 and 200 at his national trials and had his right hamstring stretched out by a trainer after the 200.
Bolt then pulled out of the Monaco Diamond League meet on July 20—his last planned race before the Olympics—with what his coach called "a slight problem," but Simms downplayed concerns that the injury could affect the defence of his three Olympic titles in London.
Simms also told Britain's Daily Telegraph yesterday that Bolt had struggled with a "slightly tight hamstring" at the trials.
"That's why, possibly, he didn't push as hard as he could have," Simms told the Telegraph. "He's back to normal...he's good to go. The muscle tightness is gone."
Bolt's coach had decided the Olympic champion needed a little bit of massage and treatment on the hamstring, Simms said.
Simms said Bolt would "train again hard next week so that he's ready for the Olympic Games".
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Tommie_Smith_sees_sub_9__sub_19_Bolt_with_better_start-162161425.html
Tommie Smith sees sub 9, sub 19 Bolt with better start
Story Created: Jul 11, 2012 at 11:40 PM ECT
LONDON
The first man to ever run below 20 seconds in the 200 metres believes if Usain Bolt improves his start, he could break the nine-second and the 19-second barriers in the 100 and 200 metres respectively.
American Tommie Smith, who won the 200m in 19.83 seconds at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, said once Bolt got a start similar to that of his training partner and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake, both current world records would be under threat.
Bolt holds the 100m world record with a clocking of 9.58 seconds at the Berlin World Championships three years ago, and the 200m record with a time of 19.19 at the same showpiece.
"If he gets a Blake start, we are looking at 8.9, 8.88, three eights in the 100 metres," Smith said Tuesday.
"If he gets a Blake start in the 200 and comes off the turn with that technique of his, he might really go sub-19."
The 25-year-old Bolt has had troubles with his start throughout his career but has traditionally used his top-end speed to his advantage.
However, in the Jamaica Olympic trials two weekends ago in Kingston, he was punished for a bad start, losing to Blake in the 100 metres despite a swift finish.
Bolt was also dealt a second defeat in the 200m, again at the hands of the impressive Blake.
Smith said his style had been similar to that of Bolt's but conceded that the reigning Olympic 200m champion's power outstripped everything else.
"I thought I was great when I ran. I didn't have the start and I didn't have the power," said Smith
"My average speed was quite close to Usain Bolt's speed. But he gained his full speed I would say five metres, six or seven strides sooner than I did. He's so powerful that he can get full speed 40 metres out in the 100, 120 metres of the 200.
"He's taller than me and more powerful. It scares you."
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Some of these old stagers always good for a story .. .....sub 9 ..yeah right ...Now who's got the sub 8 story ?
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Some of these old stagers always good for a story .. .....sub 9 ..yeah right ...Now who's got the sub 8 story ?
Steve Austin ;D
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gentlemen ....... we have the technology :beermug:
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Some of these old stagers always good for a story .. .....sub 9 ..yeah right ...Now who's got the sub 8 story ?
Tommie Smith was one of the black world's sprint heroes back in the day for that black power salute he made on the podium in Mexico in 1968 but it is now obvious that the grey matter is catching up with him and the braincells are not working as well as they used to! :devil:
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8.8 lol
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Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive
http://www.youtube.com/v/IScGP3b9gUA
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Some of these old stagers always good for a story .. .....sub 9 ..yeah right ...Now who's got the sub 8 story ?
Tommie Smith was one of the black world's sprint heroes back in the day for that black power salute he made on the podium in Mexico in 1968 but it is now obvious that the grey matter is catching up with him and the braincells are not working as well as they used to! :devil:
Right here on this forum someone stated that Brown was going sub 9.7...remember that?
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Puma-expects-Bolt-to-speed-up-sales_11960112#ixzz216FNbsCt
Puma expects Bolt to speed up sales
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
FRANKFURT, Germany - WITH the London Olympic Games just days away, German sportswear giant Puma is pinning its hopes on sprint legend Usain Bolt to speed up sales and outpace its bigger competitors Adidas and Nike.
Bolt, the world's fastest man who blew away his rivals to win three gold medals in Beijing four years ago, is also a key plank in the firm's strategy to shift its focus from lifestyle clothing to sportswear.
Sportswear currently accounts for 35 per cent of Puma sales, but the firm's boss, Franz Koch, wants to boost that to 40 per cent and the company sees its sponsorship of double world-record holder Bolt as key to that aim.
"We are keen to underline that we are strong in both sectors, lifestyle and performance," Puma's head of international sports marketing, Christian Voigt, told AFP.
Who better than the charismatic Bolt and the Jamaican team, also sponsored by Puma, to push the firm's dual-track strategy?
"Usain Bolt and the Jamaican team allow us to build a bridge between lifestyle and performance, a bridge they built themselves," said Voigt.
"The way of life in Jamaica, its music, its relaxed attitude, its style, its colours. This is also Puma's spirit," he said.
And Puma certainly aims to capitalise on Jamaican cultural history, hiring Cedella Marley, daughter of reggae legend Bob Marley, to design the clothes for the team.
With profits hit by the eurozone crisis, Puma is hoping for a strong Olympics to revive its fortunes.
In an earnings statement issued in April, it said net profits were down some five per cent in the first three months of the year, to ¤74 million ($8 billion) on sales of ¤821 million — a gain of six per cent.
For the full year, Puma is aiming at an increase of between five and 10 per cent in turnover with a roughly five-per cent boost in net profits. It is due to release updated figures on July 26.
It certainly has fierce competition in the run-up to the Olympics, billed as the "Battle of Britain" in terms of the fight between sports companies, with Germany's Adidas and US firm Nike leading the pack.
Adidas is pulling no punches at the Games. Its status as an official partner allows it to kit out some 85,000 people, including flame-bearers, officials, as well as the athletes in the Olympic village.
In addition, Adidas is responsible for the kit of 11 national Olympic committees, including the British, German and French teams, and will have a presence in 25 of the 26 disciplines showcased at the Games.
Adidas has invested ¤100 million in the London Olympics and is hoping for a return of the same amount, plus a huge amount of visibility.
Nike, meanwhile, is not short of ammunition, with its sponsorship of the powerful American squad.
The US firm is also winning the media scrap on social networks, a key battleground, said Hartmut Heinrich, a consultant in marketing strategy at Vivaldi Partners.
Heinrich added that Puma's strategy of focusing on one athlete was risky but has paid off in the past.
"Puma's strategy is one of David versus Goliath. They fight a guerrilla campaign which consists of obtaining the maximum effect with a small budget," the analyst told AFP.
"Puma always tries to sponsor one sportsperson in particular. Therefore they take more risk but until now, it has always worked well for them," added Heinrich, referring to Bolt.
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/Getting-sharp--Sprint-phenom-Bolt-on-track-ahead-of-Games_12001251
Getting sharp! Sprint phenom Bolt on track ahead of Games
Officials rubbish Blake-Bolt rivalry
BY PAUL A REID Observer Writer
Sunday, July 22, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, England — Aspirants for Usain Bolt's 100-metre title at the London Olympic Games should be nervous. In fact, very nervous.
Information coming out of the Jamaican camp here is that the world record-holder and Beijing Olympics sprint double gold medallist has been training well and is looking sharp.
"This is not the same Bolt we saw in Kingston," a source, who wished not to be identified, told the Sunday Observer yesterday. "He has been working hard and is looking really focused on his work."
The marquee Men's 100m final will be run on August 5, the day before Jamaica celebrates its 50th year of independence.
Bolt suffered shocking successive defeats in the 100m and 200m sprints at the hands of Racers Track Club teammate and Daegu World Championships 100-metre winner Yohan Blake at the Jamaica National Championships (Trials) at the back end of June.
Blake won the 100m in 9.75 seconds and the 200m in 19.80 seconds, both world-leading times this season.
However, it soon became evident that Bolt was suffering from an injury, which forced his coach Glen Mills to withdraw him from the Diamond League meet in Monaco, which was held last Friday.
Bolt's outstanding world records stand at 9.58 seconds for the 100m and 19.19 seconds for the 200 metres.
Meanwhile, representatives of Bolt and training partner Blake have both shot down suggestions that the Olympic champion has asked to train on his own.
Norman Peart, Bolt's manager, and Cubie Seegobin, Blake's agent, have both poured cold water on suggestions that there might be a rift between the two protagonists for the sprint crown at the London Olympic Games which start next week in London.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Bolt had asked to train by himself at the University of Birmingham Munrow track and field complex.
The Jamaican team has been training behind heavy security at the recently re-laid university track.
Peart, however, told the Jamaica Observer in a telephone interview from Kingston on Friday night that the suggestions are "rubbish", as he had spoken to the athlete only hours before and there were no problems with his relationship with his teammates or Racers training partner.
Yesterday Seegobin, who was in Birmingham, echoed Peart's sentiments, adding that such a rumour is "garbage".
"You guys have no idea how close these two athletes are and people would be surprised," Seegobin told the Sunday Observer.
Meanwhile, impeccable sources told the Sunday Observer that reports of a hip injury to sprint relay pool member Schillonie Calvert were not true.
The source said Calvert, who was fifth in the 100m at the National Trials and is making her first Olympic team, participated in relay practice yesterday morning, training with the men's team and was running at full blast without any discomfort.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/usain-bolt-thinks-run-9-4-no-faster-132720146--oly.html
Usain Bolt thinks he can run a 9.4 and no faster
By Chris Chase | Fourth-Place Medal
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:27 AM EDT
The world's fastest man thinks he can go even faster -- but not by much.
Usain Bolt, who will defend his Olympic title in the 100 meters on Aug. 5, says he can run in the 9.4s in a big meet like the London Games, a time which would be considerably faster than his world record of 9.58, set during the 2009 world championships.
Anything faster than that is off the table, though.
"It is impossible to run 9.2," he told The Sun. "The body isn't made to go that fast no matter how hard you train, how good a shape you're in or how good your technique."
Bolt is looking to become the first man in over 100 years to repeat as 100-meter champion at a non-boycotted Olympics. His title defense got off to a rough start at Jamaican trials when he was upset by Yohan Blake in both sprint events.
If it's not a teammate or the inexorable pull of history that hinders Bolt in his chances to win gold with a 9.4, it could be something else: the British weather. It's been a particularly rainy summer, even by London standards. Wimbledon was called "one of the showeriest on record" by The Telegraph. And though the forecast for the early days of the Games look good, the 100-meter final on Aug. 5 is still too far off to predict.
Rain would be devastating for world record chances. Because there's no roof at Olympic Stadium, runners could have to compete in chilly, damp weather for the highly anticipated final. Carl Lewis says it will be a disadvantage for many racers. "Sprinters obviously like warmer, drier weather," he told The Telegraph. "People who may run certain ways in those conditions may not run as well."
But another American Olympic champion thinks 9.4 is on the table too. Michael Johnson said earlier this month that Bolt would need to make some improvements to run that time.
"If Usain was to be really focused and committed on cleaning up his technique he could probably run 9.4 seconds, but he would have to do some major training and adjustments in the way that he runs," Johnson said to Laureus.com. "I think he can do whatever he wants to do. If he gets to the starting line healthy, at his best, everyone else at their best, he wins every time ... he's that good."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/24/usain-bolt-jamaica-olympic-100m
Usain Bolt: 'Legends have come before me, but this is my time'
Donald McRae
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 July 2012 13.26 BST
Jamaica's Olympic 100m and 200m champion talks about his rivals for the sprint crown, the horror of false starts and how he plans to make history at London 2012
"This will be the moment, and this will be the year, when I set myself apart from other athletes in the world," Usain Bolt says in a quiet but dramatic statement of intent on the brink of the Olympic Games in London. The world's fastest man talks with unusually deep concentration, and a calm seriousness of purpose, as he stresses his belief that he will seal his dizzying legacy in the coming days.
"A lot of legends, a lot of people, have come before me," Bolt says. "But this is my time."
There is composure, rather than arrogance, in Bolt's voice. In a candid and open interview, the 25-year-old Jamaican has already dealt with the shadows of his recent dips and doubts and the threatening figure of his friend, and now imposing rival, Yohan Blake. Bolt knows that if he can overcome all his new challenges, and disappointments over the last year, he can join sport's most exalted pantheon.
No man has ever successfully defended his 100m Olympic and 200m titles on the track. Carl Lewis's name is now in the record books after his second-place finish to Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympic 100m final in Seoul was upgraded to a gold medal following the doping scandal which ruined that race forever. But no sprinter has retained his 200m Olympic crown – let alone repeated a hat-trick by also winning the 4x100m relay for a second successive time. If Bolt replicates his feats from the Beijing Olympics, where he won three gold medals with blistering speed and irresistible panache, his name will echo alongside near mythic sporting figures like Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Pele and Michael Phelps.
In 2008, three billion people, apparently, watched Bolt shatter the world record and win the Olympic 100m final with ridiculous ease in Beijing. His blurring 6ft 5in frame, and huge stride, helped produce the most exhilarating trick of time. Running faster than any man had ever run before, Bolt was so far ahead of his straining rivals he made it appear as if he had slowed to a saunter as he spread his arms wide in a "look-at-me" gesture and crossed the winning line. He wore the expression of a man who had conquered the world.
This time, in London, will be different. Bolt could be tested in exacting ways. Yet an even larger global television audience will be entranced by the prospect of him securing his reputation as the greatest sprinter in history.
The mistaken assumption used to be that Bolt simply needed to turn up, mug for the camera with some dance-hall steppin', and then run and win, before reaching for his arrow-shooting victory pose. "What can I do?" he says. "You can only do your work and let people believe what they want. I work my hardest because I know what it takes to be a champion. I know what I want and I'm focused on what I need to do to win."
Yet a contrasting quartet of races now flits across the usually sunny outlook of the brilliant and charismatic Jamaican. Last year, at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, Bolt lost his 100m title after he was disqualified following a false start. While Bolt cried out in agonised frustration, as he stalked around a confined area behind the track, the re-started race was won by Blake, his club-mate and younger rival.
Two months ago, in late May, Bolt ran the worst 100m of his professional career and recorded a time of 10.04sec in Ostrava, failing to break 10 seconds for the first time in three years. "I had a bad start and had no feeling the whole race," a dejected Bolt told the massed cameras and recorders. "My legs kinda felt dead. I don't know the reason. The first 40 metres were really bad. I never felt the power out of my legs."
Bolt still won that low-key race but, tellingly, he suffered two defeats in three days at the Jamaican trials. On 30 June, he was beaten in the 100m by the 22 year-old Blake, who won in 9.75sec – 0.11sec quicker than Bolt. More shockingly, on 1 July, Blake defeated Bolt in the 200m, a distance over which the Olympic champion had been considered "unbeatable" for years.
These setbacks have deepened an already consuming interest in the men's sprint for the battle between Bolt and Blake adds another dimension to the glamour and thrilling blur of the 100m. Bolt retains his grip on his romantic title as the world's fastest man and his 9.58 record has been unmatched for almost three years, but Blake has won the three races that have mattered most to them over the last 11 months.
Yet, training in Birmingham as he winds down his preparations for London, Bolt remains engagingly uncomplicated. He does not shy away from a single question or seek refuge in evasive self-effacement. Instead, he is honest in underlining a belief that his "ups and downs" will make retaining his three Olympic titles all the sweeter.
"Definitely," Bolt says, reaching for his favourite word. "When you go through a lot it helps because you can say all these things happened for a reason. The key thing to remember is that hard work does pay off. If you put the work in, it will definitely pay off in the long run."
Bolt speaks plainly when suggesting that, after enduring unfamiliar adversity, he has become mentally stronger. "Yeah, definitely. It gets annoying but, after a while, you get used to people making their own comments and just judging you. But I'm always positive. I know what I want. I know what I am capable of. But it makes you stronger when you have to work so hard to get better and you have to go through all these trials. So I don't stress. I just focus on what is necessary."
He sounds convinced he is now in the kind of shape that will ensure his victory in both the 100m and 200m Olympic finals. "Definitely," Bolt says, relishing the familiar punch of that same old word. "Each training session I'm getting better and better. I have no other duties now, no worries, it's all about training, eating and sleeping. I have a lot more time and can put a lot more effort into training. I'm feeling better every day. As long as I'm feeling myself I'm definitely in no doubt I can go to the Olympics and win."
It's easy to believe in Bolt – primarily because of his outrageous speed and ebullient conviction – but today I am utterly persuaded by his willingness to confront some darker moments. It can be heard in his insistence that "it's always good to lose. It wakes you up." This does not sound like a distressed lament.
Yet footage at last year's world championship captured Bolt's angry devastation at being disqualified. Asked if those emotions defined the worst moments of his career Bolt is emphatic: "Yeah, definitely. Without a doubt – because I worked so hard in coming back from injury last season. Everything came together at the right time and for me to squander it explains why I was so upset with myself. At that very moment it felt so bad because I knew I could've won the race."
Surely the one false-start rule seems crazy to Bolt? If it happened in London, and Bolt or Blake was disqualified, it would kill a much-anticipated race not just for the affected athlete but for billions of viewers. "Listen," Bolt says, "rules were made. For me to make a mistake does not now allow me to say we should change that rule. My coach [Glen Mills] always explains that it's not about anticipation. It's about being professional and getting it done and when you're out there you should listen because the starter is the judge and jury. You should just focus on getting the start right."
Bolt has often struggled with his start, for it is the weakest area of his otherwise imperious sprinting pedigree, but does his disqualification in Daegu haunt him? Did it affect his slow starts in Ostrava and at the Jamaican trials?
"No, I don't think so," he says in a measured tone. "Every season, for me, it's like starting from scratch again. Me and my coach sat down and evaluated and talked a lot about this. We've figured out where I have gone wrong and what I need to do to make sure I get a consistent start."
Has he found a method to produce that more consistent start? "Yeah, yeah, definitely. I've actually bought some blocks that we're going to be using at the Olympics and I've been training with them. I will be much more comfortable and much more consistent starting with those blocks at the Olympics."
And yet, right next to him, or just a few lanes away, Blake will hunker down into his own blocks. Was Bolt shocked to suffer successive defeats to Blake? "You can't say it's a shock. For me, it's good to have your eyes opened wide. To have ups and downs so you can really evaluate what you did wrong or what you need to do to get back where you need to be. It was extremely good it happened at the trials so I could refocus."
Was he shaken by his sluggish run in Ostrava where, briefly, he appeared bewildered by his performance? "No. It wasn't really a concern for long. I just knew [Bolt laughs] I wasn't getting enough sleep. All I needed was some sleep and then I felt better. The next day I was back to my normal self."
Some critics suggested Bolt was partying too much, but did defeat rekindle his hunger for success? "My hunger is always there," Bolt says coolly. "Things happen throughout the season that throw you off sometimes but you have to learn from your mistakes. I just need to put things in place to make sure it doesn't happen at the Olympics. I just try and get over it and get my confidence up to a level where I'm comfortable at the Games."
Bolt was not physically at his best, and struggling with a tight hamstring, but he refuses to excuse his successive losses in Jamaica. Great sprinters, after all, require great rivals to lend gravitas to their legacy. Has Blake emerged, just in time, to push Bolt to even more extraordinary heights?
"Well, for me, Yohan is going to be a great athlete and, so far, he has shown the potential to be that great. But I think, definitely, Tyson Gay is one of the fiercest athletes out there."
Bolt has beaten Gay decisively over the years and it seems striking he should name-check the American alongside Blake. Gay himself has stressed that no one can match Bolt's "big-event mentality". This will be Bolt's third Olympics while Blake remains untested in the most brutal sprinting arena. "I wouldn't say it's a big factor," Bolt says of Blake's inexperience, "but it will play a role because to show up in the Olympics is not easy.
"It's not going to be him alone. It's going to be me, Asafa Powell [also from Jamaica], Tyson, Justin Gatlin [the US's 2004 Olympic 100m champion who returned last year from a doping suspension] and all these guys. It's a packed race with top-class athletes so it will be a different level of competition for Yohan. It's going to take a lot of focus. And it's going to cause a lot of stress. It will really test him as an athlete – and as a person overall. We'll see how good he is."
There is no biting cynicism in Bolt's calm statement. Rather, he makes it sound as if he is as intrigued as we are to discover the depth of an opponent known as The Beast. Was Bolt really the first man to give Blake his nickname? "I said it once and people just took it and called him The Beast. I said he's a beast at training so people have now started calling him The Beast."
Does Bolt regret stamping such a fierce alias on his most serious adversary? "No!" he exclaims. "It's a good nickname and he likes it so it doesn't bother me in any way. It doesn't matter."
In a similarly jokey vein, Blake claims to be a better fast bowler than Bolt, who still carries a high self-regard on the cricket pitch. "He plays lots of cricket," Bolt says of Blake, "so he might be in better shape than me. But I was great. I haven't played cricket in a while but I know what I can do.
He also knows what Blake is capable of on the track. Even more than defeat in the trials, or being forced to surrender his world title, another image links Bolt to Blake. It comes from a Diamond League meeting in Brussels last September on a night when Bolt won the 100m in a carefree 9.76. Yet, later, the cameras homed in on a visibly startled Bolt as he watched Blake cross the 200m finish line in 19.26 – the second fastest time in history. Bolt's world record of 19.19 had not been dented but the taller, older and much more illustrious sprinter could not help himself. His hand covered his mouth as if he needed to muffle his astonishment. It seemed a graphic insight into his true feelings about the rising threat of Blake.
The rivalry between the two men is now such that, sharing the same coach in Mills at the Racers Club in Kingston, they train apart. Yet their friendship off the track continues in seemingly untarnished fashion. At the world championships last year, Bolt shared an apartment with Blake and Powell. Will that happen again at the Olympic village?
"Of course," Bolt says. "We're always going to be friends and team-mates. It's being part of a team. You need to be around people so you can laugh and relax. All the seriousness of the track happens when you line up and the starter takes over. For me the important thing is to be relaxed and not worry about anything."
The rest of us can simply savour a 100m final which is being described as, potentially, the race of all races. Bolt himself hardly resists the giddy anticipation of a sprinting showdown on Sunday 5 August. All eight finalists could conceivably run under 10 seconds. "If the weather is great I definitely think it could be the greatest race. We have six guys who, for sure, can run under 9.9 and they should all make the final. So there is no doubt this could go down as the greatest final ever. If the weather is great and things work out then everything is possible – that's my motto."
Such expectation engenders searing tension. Bolt likes to claim his most jubilant moment on the track came when he was just 15 and he won the 100m junior world championships in Kingston. Yet before that race he was so nervous he initially put his shoes on the wrong feet. He chortles at the suggestion that, considering his commitment to Puma, his long-time sponsors, he won't make the same mistake in London. Yet surely even Bolt will struggle to contain his nerves? How will he compose himself the night before and, then, in the last hour and the final moments before he settles in his starting blocks?
"It's always good to have a little bit of nerves. You've just got to deal with it. And I think I'm past being extra-nervous – especially when I feel myself. When I'm myself there is never any worry and, right now, I'm starting to feel better and better in training. The nerves get less and less the better I feel."
Bolt can relish, instead, the prospect of winning three Olympic finals in London which, for him, "couldn't be a better place. It couldn't get bigger than this. There couldn't be nowhere else because London is really like a second Jamaica."
Is it possible that Bolt, Blake and Powell could complete a Jamaican hat-trick of medals in the 100m? "It's going to be interesting," he says with a throaty chuckle. "But I can't call that because I can't say if everybody will be relaxed on the day. But I'm going out there to win. I can't speak for anyone else."
Gatlin and Gay will be intent on ruining that Jamaican rivalry. The former Olympic champion, Gatlin, has regained some of his old speed and ferocious commitment. At a meeting in Zagreb he even seemed to spit into Bolt's lane – a gesture which elicited amusement in the smiling Jamaican.
"I just think that's what he's used to," Bolt says of Gatlin. "He's pretty much an old-school athlete and, back in the day, it was all about intimidation. But for me it wasn't anything. I was really focused."
Does Gatlin actually believe he can intimidate a man who has run the 100m in 9.58sec? Bolt laughs wryly. "I'm not intimidated by Justin Gatlin. I think he has used it on a couple of other athletes but I'm a different person. It won't work with me."
Bolt, instead, can rely on both his staggering reputation and a renewed appetite for hard work to send a shiver down his rivals. Even The Beast has acknowledged that Bolt has put in the long hours to reach near perfect shape for London. "I've definitely worked hard for these Olympics," Bolt says. "Really hard. You have to put a lot behind you and it's all about sacrifice. You must sacrifice a lot."
His wait for the London Olympics to finally open on Friday is not quite over. The quick man considers the slow drag of an English summer and, for a moment, Bolt sounds almost philosophical.
"I think the days are getting even longer, surprisingly," he says with a light laugh as the deceptive nature of time amuses him. "They seem to be moving real slow now. I guess when you want something to start, now, it takes longer. And, definitely, the evenings are even slower."
Bolt, however, seems set on running so fast he will enshrine his legacy in London. "I've been saying this for years," he murmurs as he reiterates his ambition to dominate. On a cool English evening in Birmingham, as the sun fades and Bolt slips away to face down the hours, his words echo again.
"This will be the moment …this will be the year … this is my time."
Those words conjure up an image of Bolt bending time again as he flies across the Olympic track with fresh resolve. He carries the conviction of a man ready to run into the stunned embrace of history.
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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120724/sports/sports6.html
Bolt's a 7-million hit on Facebook
Published: Tuesday | July 24, 2012
BIRMINGHAM:
In four years after creating a Facebook fan page, Usain Bolt has racked up to 7,018,290 fans and counting.
Bolt's page was officially created June 1, 2008 and since then he has had consistent growth over the period.
Bolt is the only track and field athlete with this kind of following on Facebook and since the beginning of May he has added 420,000 fans.
The Jamaican's biggest fan base, according to Facebook, is from the United Kingdom, with just under one million, while the countries rounding out the top 10 are India, United States, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Germany and Chile (in that order).
The top 10 cities are London, Kingston, Paris, New Delhi, Chennai, Santiago, Nairobi, Mumbai, Accra and Bangalore.
His most popular fans are the 18-24 male, 13-17 male and 25-34 male; while his most popular female fans fall within the 18-24 age range.
Bolt, in an interview thanked his fans for the support and wants all of them to know he appreciates their support.
Bolt is readying with his Jamaican teammates for a full dose of London for the Olympic Games from July 27 to August 12.
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Usain Bolt ready to defend titles despite being only 95% fit
Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt says he has overcome back and hamstring problems and is ready to defend his Olympic titles.
The Jamaican tells BBC Sport's David Bond that despite not being 100% fit, he is confident he can retain his titles and secure his legacy in London.
Bolt was speaking four years to the day since he smashed the 100m world record at the 2008 Beijing Games with a time of 9.69 seconds, despite slowing to celebrate before the finishing line.
Click link to view video of interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19007962
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt_says_fit_for_fastest_100-metre_ever-163969426.html
Bolt says fit for fastest 100-metre ever
Story Created: Jul 26, 2012 at 11:39 PM ECT
l LONDON
Usain Bolt says he is fit and ready for the London Olympics and is convinced his defence of the 100 metres title could trigger one of the fastest ever races in the blue riband sprint.
The 25-year-old Jamaican said he had been training well after a minor hamstring problem and reiterated his desire to become a "legend" of the sport by defending his 100m and 200m titles.
Concerns about the fitness of the biggest name in track and field arose when cameras were banned from his training sessions and he was pictured receiving treatment on his hamstring.
Bolt dismissed those concerns, saying a stiff back causing some problems for his hamstring had been fixed.
"I'm always ready," the 100m and 200m world record holder told a news conference yesterday.
"I keep telling you guys, it's all about the championships, it's not about the trials, it's not about one run, every athlete knows this.
"My coach determines whether we train in front of cameras or not, he doesn't like the cameras.
"I went and I trained, I had slight problems but nothing too serious, I got that fixed and I've been training great.
"I'm ready to go, I came into the camp today and felt that chill, that's a good vibe so I'm happy."
Bolt's aura of invincibility was dented earlier this month when he was beaten over both 100m and 200m by training partner and world champion Yohan Blake at the Jamaican trials.
"I've been beaten before the Olympics before, Asafa (Powell) did it in '08, it's always a wake-up call to be beaten in the season but it's better at the trials than at the Olympics," Bolt said.
"It opened my eyes, I sit down and rethink a few things. But for me it's just about getting it right on the day. I'm alright."
World champion Blake's time in the 100m at the trials, 9.75 seconds, was the fastest of the year but he is not the only challenger to Bolt's crown who has been in impressive form this season.
Justin Gatlin, the Athens Olympic champion, returned from a four-year doping ban to run 9.80 to win the US trial while his compatriot Tyson Gay has also run under the 10-second barrier.
The man who has run under ten seconds more than any other runner, former world record holder Powell, was alongside Bolt on the stage on Thursday and is also likely to be in the final on August 5.
"Hands down, for sure, I'm thinking this could be one of the fastest 100 metres anyone has ever seen because these guys have been showing potential all season, a lot of guys have been running fast because it's an Olympic year," said Bolt.
Powell, who has admitted to having psychological problems when he races the likes of Bolt and Gay, said he was confident he would contribute fully to the occasion.
"It's just going to be very exciting. I don't know what is going to happen in the finals," he said.
"All I know is a lot of people are expecting Usain to win way out in front but it's not as easy as you think.
"If I don't make the podium, I'll be very disappointed. I know I have what it takes to go out there and put in on the track and a lot of guys will eat my dust."
Bolt said whatever happened in London, he would continue to run track and field after the Games but would try to do it in a way that was less stressful.
He left no doubt, however, of his goal in London, where he will carry Jamaica's flag at the opening ceremony today.
"Usain can become a legend so I'm on it," he said.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--usain-bolt-mobbed-in-olympic-village--recruits-jamaican-track-teammates-to-be-personal-security.html
Usain Bolt mobbed in Olympic Village, recruits Jamaican track teammates to be personal security
Martin Rogers
LONDON – Usain Bolt has arranged a personal entourage comprising Jamaican track colleagues to shield him from the attention of other athletes in the Olympic Village.
On Thursday, Bolt was mobbed by excited Olympians when he strolled into the vast dining hall as hundreds stood to cheer and applaud the defending triple gold medalist.
Since even the biggest stars are not allowed to bring their own security into the sanctuary of the Village, Bolt has had to call upon a group of Jamaican teammates to ensure he does not face too much intrusion away from the track.
"Mr. Bolt descended on the food hall for lunch," British field hockey player Chloe Rogers said. "We were loving the whole entourage around him, including his training buddy and rival Yohan Blake."
Discus thrower Jason Morgan, shot putter Dorian Scott (who has worked part-time as a bouncer in Jamaica) and 4x100 meter relay reserve Kemar Bailey-Cole have been tasked with shadowing Bolt whenever he ventures outside the Vesta House, the apartment block in the Village where the entire Jamaican contingent is staying.
"They are with him wherever he goes," an Olympic athlete told Yahoo! Sports. "The whole [dining room] went crazy when he first came in. For a couple of minutes everyone just turned into a fan. No one actually went up and asked for an autograph but it wouldn't have been a surprise.
"I got a photo with Bolt at the Village in Beijing but that won't be happening this time around. Those guys, especially the big shot putter, won’t let anyone get close."
Bolt was able to enjoy a relatively peaceful existence in the Village at Beijing, but his profile is now far greater after winning Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 meters and the 400 relay in spectacular fashion. He is guaranteed to generate significant attention at every turn.
"The boys have got my back," Bolt said. "We are a close team and everyone looks out for each other. I want the others to win for Jamaica just as much as I want to win for myself. They help me out and I will be cheering for them."
Even his choice of food on Thursday was scrutinized. With hundreds of pairs of eyes watching him, Bolt walked past the counter for McDonald's, whose chicken nuggets he famously ate before his finals four years ago, and instead opted for grilled chicken from a Caribbean food kiosk.
Bolt begins his Olympic campaign on August 4 in the preliminary heats of the 100 meters.
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Simply-unbelievable-_12082305
Simply unbelievable!
Don Anderson’s first-hand account of the mayhem of Bolt’s journey to the Opening Ceremony
Monday, July 30, 2012
All of us taking part in the athletes' parade did not get a chance to see the Opening Ceremony; but the Jamaican contingent got to see the Usain Bolt show on our way to the stadium.
Bolt was selected as the flag bearer. He readily agreed to do this, but as the time drew near (7:00 pm for a 9:00 pm departure from the village) we learnt that he was not keen to march again, as we had to walk the mile to the stadium and he was concerned, as we all were, that he would be harassed.
Eventually, he agreed to go ahead and what happened next is just simply unbelievable.
I have never seen anyone cheered and shouted after as Bolt was for the mile journey. Schoolchildren and adults lined the route in thousands and we heard cheers of "Usain Bolt, Usain Bolt" the whole way. I mean the noise was deafening and the cheers went on nonstop.
Autograph hunters, people who just wanted to touch his hands, people who just wanted to see him, thronged the place. He obliged and worked the show. He ran along the barrier, touching hands, playing with his supporters and taking photos with them. He danced his way down the road, ran up to something that looked like a ref's chair at a tennis match and sat; and of course, he did his famous pose.
Athletes from other countries walking the route left their delegations and found their way amongst us just wanting a photo op with him and he obliged, especially with the pretty girls, and there were plenty.
I have never seen anything like this, nor certainly have I been involved with anything like this. But you know how we were able to get through? The six biggest guys in our team, the shot putter, the discus thrower, all six-foot-three and more had to form a human barricade around him and ward off athletes from other countries, security persons whose job it was to maintain order in the lines and volunteer staff guiding the parade, from getting too close to him.
It was a crazy scene. When we got inside to the centre of the field, they came from near and far. I don't think anyone heard what was being said in the stadium, everyone was just coming to get a photo of Bolt, people standing on chairs, cameras held aloft. When he got tired and sat down, surrounded by his 'bodyguards' people got chairs and still found ways to try to get a shot at him.
It was just incredible. And throughout it all, he loved it. He has a personality second to none.
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-usain-bolt-earns--20-million-a-year-20120806.html
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-usain-bolt-earns--20-million-a-year-20120806.html
How Usain Bolt Earns $20 Million A Year
ForbesBy Kurt Badenhausen | Forbes – 8 hours ago
Yahoo! Finance Portfolio
Usain Bolt entered the 2008 Summer Olympics as somewhat of a curiosity. Yes, he had recently set the world record in the 100-meter dash, but few people outside the track and field world knew much about the 6-foot-5 Jamaican. He had excelled at the 200-meter distance, but was relatively new to the 100-meter event. His only sponsors before Beijing were Puma, which signed Bolt to a small deal in 2003, and Digicel, a Jamaican mobile phone company.
[More from Forbes: The Highest-Paid Olympic Athletes]
Three gold medals and three world records later, Bolt left Beijing as one of the most famous athletes on the planet. He set records in the 100 and 200, becoming the first man to capture Olympic gold in both events since Carl Lewis in 1984. He was part of the 4×100 meter Jamaican relay team that shattered the world record on the way to another gold. Life has never been the same for the world’s fastest man.
Usain Bolt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)As Bolt’s fame soared, his paycheck took off as well. Bolt earned an estimated $20.3 million over the last 12-months from prize money, bonuses, appearance fees and sponsors. He ranks No. 63 among the world’s highest-paid athletes. Bolt has a ways to go to challenge LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in terms of earnings, but his income is more than 20 times what other elite sprinters typically make in a year and more than any other athlete in the history of track and field.
Bolt inked endorsement deals with Gatorade, Swiss watchmaker Hublot and Virgin Media after Beijing. Visa signed him to an agreement and splashed Bolt’s image on billboards across Europe, where track and field remains a popular sport. Visa is in position to use Bolt in ads during London as an official sponsor of the Olympic Games.
[More from Forbes: The World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes]
Soul Electronics signed a deal with Bolt this year and he will develop his own line of headphones for the company. He added a multimillion dollar pact in June with Nissan Motor, which plans to use Bolt in a global ad campaign. He released his autobiography, “9:58: Being the World’s Fastest Man,” in 2010, and another book is in the works for after London.
Bolt’s biggest paycheck comes courtesy of Puma, where he is the global face of the German sportswear company. Puma re-signed Bolt in 2010 to a deal worth $9 million annually. It is an astronomical sum for a track athlete and on par with what only a handful of the most marketable basketball, soccer and tennis stars receive from shoe and apparel contracts. In contrast, a massive Nike deal for a football or baseball player is $1 million.
Prize money in track and field is relatively paltry. Athletes compete each year in the Samsung Diamond League, which is made up of 14 events around the world. Winners of individual races receive $10,000 with the year-end winner earning an additional $40,000. First place in the biennial World Championships is worth $60,000 and world records carry bonuses of $100,000 in that event. Bolt typically competes in 7 to 9 Diamond League events and earns additional sponsor bonuses based on his performances.
[More from Forbes: Tiger Woods Tops List Of Highest Paid Golfers]
While prize money is small, Bolt’s ultimate running payday is often huge thanks to appearance fees. His fee starts at $200,000 and can reach $350,000 for a big meet. Bolt commands the huge sums because he guarantees a sellout when competing.
“Bolt is the highest-paid athlete in the history of track and field, but he’s also probably the most underpaid athlete in the history of track and field,” says Paul Doyle, a veteran track and field agent, in a Bolt story published last week in Sports Illustrated.
His appearance at the Penn Relays in 2010 resulted in the highest single day attendance (54,310) in the event’s 118-year history. Regarding the crowd’s reaction when Bolt started warming up, U.S. sprinter Mike Barber said, “It was so loud, I thought, ‘Is the President here?’”
Bolt can command these massive sums of money because he has transcended the world of track and field the way Tiger Woods did in golf during his peak and Michael Jordan did in basketball.
The 100-meter final was the hottest ticket going into the Olympics. London 2012 organizers received more than one million requests for tickets for the event with prices set at $1,130, which is more than any other event. Bolt faced stiff competition from countryman Yohan Blake, who is the current 100-meter world champion after Bolt was disqualified from the race last year for a false start. Blake also beat Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic trials.
Bolt held off Blake and the field Sunday night to capture the gold in an Olympic record 9.63 seconds. He joins Carl Lewis as the only men to win consecutive gold medals in the 100-meter event. Maintaining his role as the world’s fastest man will allow Bolt to continue to command huge premiums in regards to his race appearance fees and endorsement contracts.
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I wonder how much a pound for grapes this sour?
http://www.newser.com/story/37297/carl-lewis-hints-at-bolt-drug-connection.html
(Newser) – US Olympic great Carl Lewis says Jamaica needs to toughen its drug policy before he’ll take Usain Bolt’s sprinting feats seriously. “I think there are some issues,” Lewis tells Sports Illustrated. “No one is accusing anyone. But don’t live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect.” Unlike the US, Jamaica does not have a random drug-testing program.
“For someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don't question that … you're a fool. Period,” said Lewis, adding that were he dominating today, he would expect to be questioned. Lewis was offended, he added, when a top track official said Bolt’s performances were more impressive than Lewis’. “For him to make that judgment is wrong,” says Lewis. “He should talk about Usain on his own merits.”
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that article from 2008 i believe...but yeah Carl Lewis always sour
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that article from 2008 i believe...but yeah Carl Lewis always sour
He should not talk, ask him about them braces on he teeth he use to wear , or the drug test he fail that was hidden
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that article from 2008 i believe...but yeah Carl Lewis always sour
He should not talk, ask him about them braces on he teeth he use to wear , or the drug test he fail that was hidden
exactly...plenty questions on how clean he was
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that article from 2008 i believe...but yeah Carl Lewis always sour
He should not talk, ask him about them braces on he teeth he use to wear , or the drug test he fail that was hidden
De braces had time release HGH in dem or wha'? Lemmih find out Carl Lewis was on some James Bond shit... Agent Double-O Negro lol
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me eh know what carl talkin bout but he always seemed to have that extra sugar in his tank
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apart from dat extra sugar...which is not dispositive to the issue, he was a druggist
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that article from 2008 i believe...but yeah Carl Lewis always sour
He should not talk, ask him about them braces on he teeth he use to wear , or the drug test he fail that was hidden
De braces had time release HGH in dem or wha'? Lemmih find out Carl Lewis was on some James Bond shit... Agent Double-O Negro lol
Bakes I think you need to watch the video in the thread Interesting Documentary: The Race that Shocked the World! link (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=57542.0) if you haven't already done so to understand the braces drugs suspicion argument regards Carl. :beermug:
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Man here talking about how Carl had to brace he bamsee more than he teeth yes,,,steups SMDH :devil:
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apart from dat extra sugar...which is not dispositive to the issue, he was a druggist
sounds like you taking that personally ..
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apart from dat extra sugar...which is not dispositive to the issue, he was a druggist
sounds like you taking that personally ..
IS like some obsessed with bamsee not me breds, I into douglas..female ones too...pretty female ones...top of the line!
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http://www.youtube.com/v/eWYvjvzhar4
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http://www.youtube.com/v/eWYvjvzhar4
i hear it on sportmax , kill he dead :rotfl:
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Get a life Ben
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Seems like Ben has been sampling some other types of drugs.
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De man say nine-three!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
"Top speed I'm running zero point nine seconds....he's running z...point one..." :rotfl: :rotfl:
Seems like Ben has been sampling some other types of drugs.
seems like you're right!! :rotfl:
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Well some of what he says is valid, tracks are faster, diet and training, no drive phase shoes too....Ben used drugs to recover faster and beat people.that was cheating...but he was really faster than the other cheaters...and I doubt anyone could get out the blocks as fast as Ben..damn he was quick out the blocks, even today that man flew.
Would he be beating Bolt today? I doubt it, but man he was something when he took to the track.
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I watched the documentary about him a few weeks ago, never saw someone literally jump out the blocks, insane stuff.
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http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,164558.html
BOLT: I AM LEGEND
By JONATHAN RAMNANANSINGH Friday, August 10 2012
Usain Bolt is now a true living legend.
Yesterday, at a packed Olympic Stadium in London, England, the well-built Jamaican sprinter became the first man to have ever successfully completed the defence of an Olympics sprint double title when he blasted to victory in the men’s 200 metres with a season best performance of 19.32 seconds. Bolt’s flawless performance now sees him standing at the highest point of his professional athletic career.
However, what illuminated Bolt’s win even more is that last Sunday, the 25-year-old sprinter shattered the Olympic record in the 100 metres with another blistering golden performance of 9.63 seconds. To add icing to the cake, this was the first ever Olympic 200 metres final that saw Jamaican athletes sweep the top-three finishes, as compatriots Yohan Blake and Warren Weir cemented the silver (19.44s) and bronze (19.84s) respectively. Both 22-year-olds have shown significant athletic prowess throughout the Games and their 200 metres results have stamped their names on the international sprint circuit forever.
After his golden run, Bolt amplified his overall competitive aura and may now be classed as the new Muhammed Ali of this era. Ali, the legendary American boxing champion, was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, which he described as “floating like a butterfly, but stinging like a bee”. Bolt can be similarly characterised in this way since he has won all his Olympic events with a comfortable and cool stride, injected with high levels of confidence.
As Bolt’s powerful legs left the starting line yesterday, victory never looked too positive for any of the other competing athletes. The seasoned sprinter led the eight-man pack throughout the entire race, but was given a slight challenge by countryman Blake with the final 50 metres remaining. With the thousands packed into the Olympic Stadium screaming “Bolt, Bolt, Bolt”, the powerhouse Jamaican never let up and barely increased his overall speed to affirm authority over the race.
The stadium’s audience erupted in celebration as they were well aware that history was written right before their eyes in less than 20 seconds. Bolt’s impeccable performance saw him go into a celebratory frenzy as he began jumping up and down knowing fully well, that this was the pinnacle of his athletic career. He became the first athlete to win the 100 metres and 200 metres events in two successive Olympics as he had also raced away with two gold at the Games in Beijing, China in 2008.
It took Bolt some seconds after his performance to realise that it was a Jamaican sweep of the 200 metres final. The lanky sprinter applauded his countrymen’s memorable contributions and hugged the duo, beaming with pride. Bolt then began jokingly doing push-ups on the track, signalling the victory was a cool and easy one, and that he was ready for more. The powerhouse may have gone into a frenzy as he ran to the crowd and joined in celebrations with Jamaican loyalists and excited British fans.
The sprinter then took a media photographer’s camera and began shooting photos of his silver and bronze medal team-mates, along with photos of himself and other media personnel at the side of the track. At this time, the crowd went wild and were heard chanting “Bolt” and “Jamaica” at the top of their lungs.
Bolt’s words after his record breaking victory were indeed an inspiration to all. Knowing the dedication, commitment, anxiety, sleepless nights, lengthy training hours, media propaganda and all other obstacles were finally over, Bolt expressed elation with himself and his Jamaican compatriots.
“For me it was just wonderful. For me, it was all about just wanting it. I wanted to become a legend, I went out there and I did my greatest. My aim was to come out here and become a legend. I am a legend now. I am a living legend without a doubt. I showed the world that I am the best no matter what. This is what I do and I’m happy with myself,” explained a pumped up Bolt.
He commended his team-mates on a job well done by grabbing the silver and bronze.
“All I got to say is ‘Races to the world’, that’s it. These guys (Blake and Weir) have worked hard and they have been pushing themselves. They’ve pushed me, we’ve worked hard together throughout the season. We’ve really worked our hearts out to be great and thanks to Glen Mills (coach), he really pushed us to be champions,” continued an ecstatic Bolt.
The global sprint king gave a detailed revelation of his performance during the race. Bolt admitted he was well aware of Blake’s presence, but was not going to let him win. Although the sprint sensation dominated throughout the entire race, he indicated his old back injury began to slightly affect him in the final 75 metres. However, his explanation revealed a heightened sense of technical perfection that was implemented in the right place at the right time.
“I know that Yohan (Blake) was in lane four so I know he was going to be coming. I really had to push myself out of the turn, because I know I’m the better turner and I had to win the race off the turn. When I came off the turn I could feel the strain on my back (previous injury), maybe my back’s not as strong as I thought it was. I could feel the strain, maybe I ran too fast or something or technique didn’t go in properly, but all I could think right now was keep your form, don’t try to push yourself too much and I didn’t want anything to go wrong so I just continued in my stride and went through,” he added.News Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner, Adrian Frater, revealed yesterday that Jamaica erupted in celebrations of the historic feat. Asked about Bolt’s performance on the biggest sporting stage, Frater proudly stated, “Absolutely electric. Never before seen by anyone in the world. And not only Bolt’s winning show, but to have three Jamaicans at the centre-stage, this achievement is out of this world.”
Frater revealed that street parties in Jamaica had already began and thousands came out to celebrate the historic feat.
“Screens were put up all across Jamaica and the place is presently in pandemonium. Usain showed us hope. But his victory today has shown us reality, he brought our hopes to life and Jamaica is ecstatic and in uproar at this moment. I didn’t even realise we got all three positions, that was the most patriotic race I have ever seen for my country. Big up the yellow, black and green. The island is going to be celebrating this for a long time,” he said.
With excitement in his voice, Frater concluded, “This has united us all in Jamaica. We do not expect any major crimes tonight (last night) because when things like this happen, we come together as one. Regardless of our crime situation right now, we are together celebrating this achievement as a proud country.”
Kalif Bagalue, a 23-year-old who was born in Mandeville, Jamaica but presently resides in Trinidad, spoke to Newsday yesterday and held his head high for his homeland.
“Being here in Trinidad, I feel so proud. Bolt and his team-mates proved to the world that our training programmes are successful. They have been trying to get the best out of the programmes for some time now and this is it. Today shows the level of success of these programmes. I feel uplifted, I feel proud. Jamaica you large,” said the athletic enthusiast.
In conclusion, Bolt made sure to thank all his loyal supporters who stood with him through it all. He sent shout-outs to his personal friends in Jamaica, but was very stern to those who only supported him when he’s at the top. In his true Jamaican patois slang, Bolt exclaimed, “Thank you guys for supporting me. My true friends them, I’m not talkin’ the wagonist (band wagonists) them. I’m talking about my true friends that supported me even when I lost (to Blake in Olympic qualifiers). Big up everybody, my grandmother, everybody, and the Four Corner Group, big you guys up. Big up Jamaica, to the world.”
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Ben talking out his big fat sour grapes arse!! usain bolt is the best runner tuh ever live, and i doubt there will ever be another like bolt in our life time. ben johnson needs to stop hating and get a life, him and carla lewis.
PS: a white man woulda never resort to this kind of petty squabling, instead they would congratulate their yutes and leave their trash talking for private moments. like i always say, "the old n!###r have no shame WSE" shameless black men!
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Ben talking out his big fat sour grapes arse!! usain bolt is the best runner tuh ever live, and i doubt there will ever be another like bolt in our life time. ben johnson needs to stop hating and get a life, him and carla lewis.
PS: a white man woulda never resort to this kind of petty squabling, instead they would congratulate their yutes and leave their trash talking for private moments. like i always say, "the old n!###r have no shame WSE" shameless black men!
Have you considered that he believes what he said?
Why try to make this an issue about black people trying to paint all of us in a negative light?
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Ben talking out his big fat sour grapes arse!! usain bolt is the best runner tuh ever live, and i doubt there will ever be another like bolt in our life time. ben johnson needs to stop hating and get a life, him and carla lewis.
PS: a white man woulda never resort to this kind of petty squabling, instead they would congratulate their yutes and leave their trash talking for private moments. like i always say, "the old n!###r have no shame WSE" shameless black men!
So what about Lance Armstrong and his compadres calling him out - any different??
Have some respect for my race!!
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Carl and others in the US media are the first to cast doubts and aspersion after Bolt started beating Gay so comfortable. Then after Beijing they start throwing the doping bombs. Unless Carl and Victor Conte can prove their allegations are true then they have no case. But The US is just pissed that the premier events of the Olimpics are now dominated by someone else. Plus, Bolt is rubbin' it into their faces. And if Bolt stays healthy for Rio, there is a possibilty of more "humiliation". I honestly like Carl as a consummate athlete. I did not mind his "arrogance" then. It is what motivates every athlete. But he is a whiner when things don't go his way.
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Carl and others in the US media are the first to cast doubts and aspersion after Bolt started beating Gay so comfortable. Then after Beijing they start throwing the doping bombs. Unless Carl and Victor Conte can prove their allegations are true then they have no case. But The US is just pissed that the premier events of the Olimpics are now dominated by someone else. Plus, Bolt is rubbin' it into their faces. And if Bolt stays healthy for Rio, there is a possibilty of more "humiliation". I honestly like Carl as a consummate athlete. I did not mind his "arrogance" then. It is what motivates every athlete. But he is a whiner when things don't go his way.
ALl this time and effort discussing what Lewis said in 2008??? steups
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/I_have_no_respect_for_Carl_Lewis__says_Bolt-165821846.html
I have no respect for Carl Lewis, says Bolt
Story Created: Aug 11, 2012 at 12:46 AM ECT
Newly-crowned "greatest-ever sprinter" Usain Bolt said on Thursday he had lost all respect for Carl Lewis, the man whose on-track exploits he has surpassed with his unique Olympic double-double but who still leads the way in self-regard.
American Lewis is the only other man to win two Olympic 100m gold medals, the second coming in 1988 when he was promoted from second place after the disqualification of Ben Johnson.
He won the 200m in 1984 but managed only silver four years later. He did, however, have a remarkable run of success in the long jump, winning that event in four successive Games for a tally of nine golds in all.
In the wake of Bolt's triple-gold record success in Beijing Lewis was quick to point the finger of suspicion at him and Jamaica in general.
"I think there are some issues," he said at the time.
"Countries like Jamaica do not have a random (drugs testing) programme, so they can go months without being tested. I'm not saying anyone is on anything, but everyone needs to be on a level playing field.
"I'm not saying they've done anything for certain. I don't know. But how dare anybody feel that there shouldn't be scrutiny, especially in our sport?"
He has continued to fire broadsides ever since but Bolt, now with his sprinting record unquestionably superior, hit back.
"I'm going to say something controversial right now, Carl Lewis--I have no respect for him," Bolt said, having cited 1936 quadruple champion Jesse Owens as a man he held in the highest regard.
"The things he (Lewis) says about the track athletes, it's really downgrading for another athlete to be saying something like that about other athletes.
"I think he is just looking for attention really because nobody really talks much about him. It was really sad for me when I heard the other day what he was saying, it was upsetting.
"So, for me, I've lost all respect for him, all respect.
"It was all about drugs, about drugs stuff for me. For an athlete to be out of the sport saying that was really upsetting for me. As far as I am concerned he is just looking for attention."
Lewis tested positive three times for a stimulant before the 1988 Games but had the results overturned by American officials.
He was named "Athlete of the 20th Century" by the IOC, the IAAF, and American magazine Sports Illustrated and has always seemed uncomfortable with the idea that someone from the 21st could surpass his achievements.
Asked before the London Games what he thought of Bolt, he said: "It's just...interesting.
"I watch the results like everyone else and wait...for time to tell."
Even after Bolt won his second 100m title, Lewis's congratulations were wrapped in barbed wire.
"He repeats and he's tremendous and he's the second person to do it and congratulations," he said last week.
"The thing for me, what I really admire about anyone, is longevity. We still have to have the longevity and dominance through the era because for me performance-wise, you really have to put longevity in.
"I'm really not trying to take anything away from his performance because it was tremendous, but you've got to see the consistency over a period of time because as of now it's just a four-year period and you really have to see a continuous dominance.
"We'll see."
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Showman_Bolt_finally_a_legend-165821856.html
Showman Bolt finally a legend
Story Created: Aug 11, 2012 at 12:46 AM ECT
l LONDON
Usain Bolt finally permitted the world to acclaim him as a sporting legend after the supreme showman of track and field delivered another superlative performance at the London Olympics on Thursday.
Bolt danced around the bend in the men's 200 metres final, accelerated past Yohan Blake on his inside and glanced quickly to his left to check he was ahead of his Jamaican teammate.
Satisfied he had the race won, he sauntered over the line with his right index finger held high. His time of 19.32 seconds equalled the then world record set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics which statisticians estimated would last another quarter of a century.
Instead Bolt reduced it to 19.30 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then to 19.19 at the Berlin world championships the following year. He also broke the 100 record twice.
Last Sunday Bolt joined Carl Lewis as the second man to retain the 100 title but said he would defer any talk of legends until he went one better than the American and successfully defended both sprint crowns.
There were no such inhibitions on Thursday after Bolt led Blake and Warren Weir to a Jamaican clean sweep. The United States, the traditional giants of Olympic sprinting, are the only other country to win all three medals in a single Games.
"It's what I came here to do, I'm now a legend," Bolt said after a joyous victory lap with Blake and Weir during which he acknowledged the tumultuous applause from all parts of the Olympic stadium.
"I'm also the greatest athlete to live. I am in the same category as Michael Johnson. I'm honoured. It's all about Michael Johnson for me. I grew up watching him break world records. He's a great athlete."
Bolt made his early reputation as a 200 metres runner and coach Glen Mills, who took charge after injury ruined Bolt's 2004 Athens Olympics campaign, was keen for him to try the 400.
Instead Bolt persuaded Mills to let him drop to the 100, which he did with spectacular success with his world records in Beijing and Berlin.
Johnson, who won the 200-400 double in Atlanta and retained his 400 title at the 2000 Sydney Games believes Bolt could go where no man or women has ever gone and set a world record in the 400 to add to his 100 and 200 marks.
Bolt has said repeatedly that both training for and racing the 400 would be too painful an experience but he did concede this year that a further debate with Mills is on the cards after the season ends.
"I sense that my coach wants me to run it, I think we are going to have a showdown after the season," he said.
First Bolt will help his teammates try to retain the 4x100 metres relay title.
The final is scheduled for this evening, the penultimate night of the Games. Victory for the Jamaicans would give Bolt six Olympic track medals, one ahead of Lewis who also won four long jump titles.
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Restless_Bolt_needs_a_new_goal-165821756.html
Restless Bolt needs a new goal
Story Created: Aug 11, 2012 at 12:46 AM ECT
The Olympic double-double achieved and his "living legend" status in the pantheon of great sprinters now secure, Usain Bolt plans to think long and hard about just how long he can remain master of his domain.
A world that has marvelled and gushed at the Jamaican's raw speed, world records and Olympic titles now waits to see what the fastest man on earth will do next.
It is time for reflection in the Court of Bolt. The great showman of track and field, with a passion for sports and fast cars, is not ready to hang up his spikes, but he is restless for a new challenge, one that can satisfy his great lust for life.
"I'm not going to retire yet. I love this sport. I have got all my success through this sport. I got all my fans through this sport," Bolt said after scorching to back-to-back Games 200 metres titles on Thursday, completing the 100-200 sprint double as he had done in Beijing four years ago.
"I have made my goal, now I have to sit down and make another one."
At 25 and with five Olympic sprint golds tucked away in a safe "with some armed men around them", and a sixth beckoning in the relay, Bolt is searching for a new horizon to conquer, one that will give him the motivation he craves.
Time, which catches up eventually with Olympic champions and park runners alike, would still appear to be on Bolt's side. For Bolt, though, Beijing and London were "my time".
The future, he said, was for compatriots Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, silver and bronze medallists in a Jamaican podium sweep on Thursday.
Bolt and Blake, 22, share the same coach, train together and have a strong friendship away from the track but down in the blocks they are fierce rivals.
"I said to him (Blake in 2010) 'you came around the wrong time, these next two years are mine'. I had to show him these next two years are mine."
Britain's Linford Christie was 32 when he won 100 gold in 1992 in Barcelona. Bolt will be on the cusp of 30 during the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and may not be in Brazil.
"I think when I get to 30 I will be thinking about retiring. Track and field is way too hard," he said.
"Yohan Blake is running 19.4 already, so in the next four years he's going to be firing. I think I want to get out before he starts running too fast.
"I think it's going to be a hard mission (in Rio). Both these guys (Blake and Weir) are 22—I'm going to be 30, they are going to be 26. I think I've had my time. In life everything is possible, but for me this is going to be a hard match."
Like great sprinters Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis, Bolt has one eye on the long jump pit.
"That's something I've always wanted to try," he said.
Could his sporting future lie away from the track?
The world's fastest man often likes to talk up his prowess as a footballer and cricketer, letting it be known again, tongue firmly in cheek, after his 100 victory that his dream was to play for Manchester United.
Bolt, in his own words is "an accomplished player".
United manager Alex Ferguson is unlikely to dash for the telephone before the start of the Premier League season but Bolt has reached the stage in his career where anything is possible.
"I made a goal to become a legend. If I can't find something to motivate me, then maybe football. I don't know. Only if I am good, remember that.
"I'm definitely thinking about it. After this Olympics I don't know, so I'll see." Winter sports, however, are not on the agenda. "I'm not going to be in the Jamaican bobsleigh team."
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http://www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2012-08-11/no-retirement-plans-yet-bolt
No retirement plans yet for Bolt
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2012
London—Usain Bolt insisted he had no intention of retiring after becoming the first man to win the sprint double in successive Olympic Games, but he did admit he would need to find a new goal to remain motivated. And the 25-year-old also claimed he would find it hard to defend his titles once more at Rio 2016 with the compatriots he led home in Thursday night’s 200m final—Yohan Blake and Warren Weir—both only 22. “I think it’s going to be a hard mission,” Bolt said. “Both these guys are 22. They are going to be 26, I’m going to be 30 (his birthday is August 21, the day of the closing ceremony in Rio). “Both these guys are running extremely well right now. I think I’ve had my time. It’s going to be hard. In life everything is possible, but for me this is going to be a hard reach because there’s going to be a lot more talent coming up and these guys have really stepped up already. “For me I’m not looking that far. I’ve made myself a legend, I’m just going to enjoy it right now. To have set a goal for yourself for years to become a legend and then to accomplish that goal is just a wonderful feeling. “You can’t explain the happiness in that because it’s not going to hit you until you get home, sit down and reminisce and you are talking to your friends and they say ‘Remember when you got injured here and you got injured there, remember Yohan beat you here.’ “Those are the things that will bring tears to your eyes because you’ve got to remember the journey that you’ve pushed through and then the happiness will come out. I know that when I sit down and think about the struggles that I’ve been through over the seasons...I’m not saying I’m going to cry, but I’m going to be really happy.”
Such comments prompted a question about whether today’s 4x100m relay final—assuming Jamaica qualify—could even be his last race, but Bolt insisted that was still some way in the future. “No, no, no, I’m not ready to retire yet,” he added. “I love this sport, I have got all my success through this sport, all my fans through this sport, so I’ll always continue to run. “I think when I get to 30 I’ve got to be thinking about retirement because track and field is way too hard. It’s rough day in and day out. Yohan Blake is running 19.4 already, his personal best is 19.2, so in the next four years he’s going to be firing. I think I’d like to get out early, before he starts running too fast, so for me 30, yes, I definitely think I’ll retire about that time.” Bolt’s dream of playing for Manchester United as a speedy winger would appear rather unlikely even for a man of his talents, so where does he go from here? The subject of the 400m was quickly slapped down—“No to the 400m, no. Please do not ask any more questions about the 400m”—as was a conversion to the Winter Olympics and the Jamaican bobsleigh team, but the long jump could be a possibility. (AP)
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Would love to see him in Rio, further silence de critics, can you imagine if he did this 3 olympics in a row? wow, 2 is already remarkable
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Bolt mentioned everything else except the quarter - football(??), long jump(??).
Seems like he's really terrified of that event, though it may be the only event he might have a lock on should he switch within the next 4 years, as new/young guns emerge in the short sprints.
If there was an event to not just cement his "legend" status but solidify it, it is the 400m that would prove him victorious in all three sprints.
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Bolt Chapter 2, verses 19-32
19: And on the fourteenth day when they were all gathered in a certain place in the land of Lon, these swift men of many nations, Usain, he being the swiftest of the lot, did turn and say to his fellow brethren from the land of Jahm.
20: Verily I shall go before thee to prepare a place on the mountain for all of us and one shall stand on my right hand and the other on my left.
21: For know thee this, there are precious metals on offer and it is written that we are the chosen ones and that we alone shall partake of the gold, silver and bronze which they have prepared for us on Olympia.
22: There shall be none before us.
23: There shall be none with us on the mount of victory
24: Verily shall the naysayers be silenced and they shall behold the people of Jahm
25: And they shall say amongst themselves "What sign is this? How can a land so small produce such giants?"
26: And they will be struck dumb.
27: We shall cover ourselves with the Black, the Green and the Gold and show them the back of our spiked feet.
28: They shall try to overtake us on the curved path. They will fail.
29: They will try to ambush us in the straits. But they will again fail, for we will have already passed that way.
30: The tribe of Lewis shall make burnt offerings and pray that duppy will tek us but they will fail and be blinded, dumbfounded and confounded.
31: You Yohan of the Beastly Tribe, and you young Warrior of the Tribe of Weir are the chosen ones to be with me in victory.
32: Therefore I say unto thee brethren of Racers, come swiftly and tarry not in this starting place and I will meet thee both at the end of this chevroned path.
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt_brings_a_bit_of_Mo_to_4x100_relay-165884596.html
Bolt brings a bit of Mo to 4x100 relay
Story Created: Aug 12, 2012 at 12:03 AM ECT
Just when Britain's double Olympic champion Mo Farah thought his Saturday night could not get any better, Jamaica's Usain Bolt decided to borrow his trademark celebration as he crossed the line in a world-record time in the 4x100 relay yesterday.
Never short of a celebration, the world's fastest man chose Farah's 'Mobot'— where he places his hands on his head to create an 'M' for Mo—as the perfect pose for a finish being beamed around the globe.
To share the stage with Bolt—the pair later swapped poses on the podium—was a strange spotlight for such a quiet man, but it may be something Farah will have to get used to following his success in London.
"Usain Bolt is a legend, what he does for the sport is amazing. For him to do the 'Mobot' when he's breaking a world record was unbelievable," said Farah after winning the 5,000 metres on Saturday to add to the 10,000 crown he roared to a week ago.
Farah's victory, which made him the seventh man to win both events at the same Olympics and the first Briton to win either, will go down as one of the Games' greatest moments, illustrated by deafening roars from the crowd and chants of 'Mo' that reverberated around the stadium.
"As a young athlete you dream of becoming an Olympic champion. To do it twice is just unbelievable," the 29-year-old said.
"The crowd was inspiring, if it wasn't for them I don't think I would have dug in as deep. It just got louder and louder, it reminded me of when you go to a football match and somebody scores a goal—wow."
Farah, whose career has blossomed since moving to the US under coach Alberto Salazar, has been through a variety of training methods including altitude training in Kenya ahead of his London Olympics return and said he had also been racking up the miles in preparation.
"I've been working out in the winter over 120 miles a week, week in, week out, so there were days when I got up and I'm tired, but when you have a vision and you have a dream, you dig in more. I'm just excited, these two medals mean a lot to me."
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/No_more_goals-165941266.html
No more goals
Bolt unsure about Rio...
Story Created: Aug 13, 2012 at 12:42 AM ECT
l LONDON
Toting his third gold medal of the London Games, Usain Bolt gave a little wave to 80,000 or so of his best friends in the Olympic Stadium stands.
Almost immediately, the questions started: What did that mean? Was Bolt bidding adieu for good? Will he be back? Will the world get to watch him sprint on his sport's biggest stage again in 2016?
"It was a goodbye to London. I was just having fun with the crowd," the Jamaican explained. "I came here to London to become a legend, and I am a legend, and I wanted to thank them for supporting me."
He accomplished exactly what he wanted to at the 2012 Olympics.
Three events—the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 relay—and three victories. Plenty of pre- and post-race preening.
Just like at Beijing in 2008.
As for trying to go for a Triple Triple four years from now, Bolt insisted Rio de Janeiro isn't necessarily in the offing.
"The possibility is there, but it's going to be very hard. ... I've done all I want to do," said Bolt, who turns 26 on August 21. "I've got no more goals."
He came up with three remarkable runs, improving his career mark to six for six in Olympic finals.
In more than a century of modern Olympics, no man had set world records while winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay—until Bolt did it in Beijing.
None had won the 200 metres twice, let alone completed a 100-200 double twice—until Bolt did so in 2008 and 2012.
Now he's added a second consecutive sprint relay title, too, pulling away down the stretch and bringing his best right through the finish line to close the track schedule Saturday night with a world record in the relay.
"When he got the stick," said Tyson Gay, part of the US team that finished second, "there was nothing we could do about it."
Looking ahead to Rio, Bolt pointed out that he'll turn 30 that year, while the closest thing he has to a rival, training partner Yohan Blake, will only be 26.
It was Blake who beat his buddy in the 100 and 200 finals at the Jamaican Olympic trials, raising the idea in some minds that Bolt could have trouble in London.
So much for that.
Bolt won the Olympic 100 in 9.63 seconds—the second-fastest dash in history, behind his own record of 9.58—and the 200 in 19.32, with Blake taking silver in both races.
"It's been so incredible watching him," said US swimmer Missy Franklin, who won four gold medals in the pool. "There was one day when he walked into the dining hall and every athlete in there just started clapping and cheering and going crazy."
Even those other athletes are among those curious about Bolt's future. Maybe he'll take up the long jump. Maybe the 400 (although he says that's too much of a grind for his tastes).
"It's very, very difficult to predict what's going to happen in four years. For Usain, he's just enjoying the moment and living in today. What he's accomplished is enough. He's done so much for our sport, and he's definitely a living legend. Whatever he decides in the future is more than icing on the cake, if he decides to come back," said Sanya Richards-Ross, who won gold medals in the 400 and the 4x400 relay for the United States. "I don't think he can do any wrong in most people's minds."
Count NBC, the network paying more than US$1 billion for the US TV rights to the 2016 Games, among those hoping Bolt will stick around.
"Usain Bolt is a firmly established star in a sport that receives unprecedented interest from the American audience during the Olympics and, as such, it would be great to see him in Rio," NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell said yesterday.
Richards-Ross helped the US end up with 29 medals in track and field this time, six more than in Beijing and the most at an Olympics since the 30 at Barcelona in 1992.
"I felt like something special was going to happen," she said. "Everybody was really focused and encouraging each other throughout the journey."
With victories in the 200 metres, 4x100 and 4x400, Allyson Felix became the first US female track athlete to win three golds at a single Summer Games since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
What was expected to be a fast track was the scene for three worlds records—Bolt's Jamaican team in the men's 4x100 relay, Felix's US quartet in the women's 4x100 relay, and Kenya's David Rudisha in the 800 metres, a run that International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge singled out as a "magic moment."
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Dahis all yuh really need to know ... the reaction of other athletes to Bolt entering the dining area.
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http://www.guardian.co.tt/olympics/2012-08-12/fans-really-enjoy-world-record-says-superstar-bolt
Fans really enjoy a world record says superstar Bolt
Published: Monday, August 13, 2012
LONDON—This time, Usain Bolt ran hard right to the finish. He even leaned at the line. Having built a big lead on the 4x100-metre relay anchor leg, Bolt knew he was about to earn his third gold medal in three events at the London Olympics. What he really wanted Saturday night was a world record, the only thing missing from his 2012 Games. So the Jamaican dispensed with the sort of “Look at me!” stuff he’s done at the end of races before—slapping his chest four years ago, putting a finger to his mouth to hush critics the other day—and focused on what he does better than anyone ever has. Sprinting. “Fans really enjoy a world record,” Bolt said later with a smile, “so I think they’ll forgive me for not posing.” Almost even with the last US runner when he got the baton, Bolt pulled away down the stretch and capped his perfect Olympics by leading Jamaica to the relay victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds. “A wonderful end to a wonderful week,” Bolt said. “What else do I need to do to prove myself as a legend?” After the win, he held up three fingers, one for each of his golds. He is now 6 for 6 in Olympic finals over his career—breaking four world records in the process, including three in Beijing in 2008. Bolt also heads home with an extra souvenir.
After winning Saturday, he pleaded with an official to let him keep the yellow baton he was clutching. Told he’d be disqualified if he didn’t hand it over, Bolt complied, and some nearby spectators booed. About 40 minutes later, that same official approached Bolt and returned the stick. Bolt responded with a bow of thanks and a chuckle, kissed the baton—and then asked his teammates to autograph it. One more possession to help him remember his performances at the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, where any mention of Bolt’s name drew raucous cheers, countless camera flashes and chants of “Usain!” or “We want Bolt!” He reiterated that this could be it for him on track and field’s biggest stage. Bolt turns 26 on August 21, and refuses to commit to showing up at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s going to be hard to really do that. I’ve done all I want to do,” said Bolt, noting that he planned to go out on the town Saturday night. “I’ve got no more goals.” Bolt also earned medals in the 100 in 9.63 seconds—the second-fastest time in history—and the 200 in 19.32 on Thursday. The runner-up in both individual sprints, Bolt’s pal and training partner Yohan Blake, ran the third leg of the relay, following Nesta Carter and Michael Frater. The US quartet of Trell Kimmons, 100 bronze medalist Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey got the silver in 37.04, equaling the old record that Bolt helped set at last year’s world championships. Trinidad & Tobago took the bronze in 38.12. Canada, which was third across the line, was disqualified for running outside its lane, and its appeal was rejected.
As Blake and Gay rounded the race’s final curve, they were pretty much in sync, stride for stride. When that duo was done, the relay came down to Bolt vs Bailey, who was fifth in the 100 metres in 9.88. Not exactly a fair matchup. “It was over from there,” Blake said. After transferring the baton from his left hand to his right, Bolt churned up the track. Bailey had no chance. “Wow,” Bailey said. “He’s a monster.” Bolt kept increasing his advantage and actually spared his now-customary showboating at the finish, instead driving through the line on a windy, chilly night. “When he got the stick,” said Gay, who got his first Olympic medal, “there was nothing we could do about it.” Only after seeing the record time did Bolt start to celebrate. He mugged for the cameras with Blake, each doing a signature pose. Bolt did his “To the World” move, where he leans back and points to the sky. Blake curled his hands as if they were claws while making a scary face to match the nickname Bolt gave him, “The Beast.” “We are not human...We drop from space,” joked Blake, who said a woman ran up and kissed him on the cheek after the race. Bolt yanked off his white spikes and danced barefoot to the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” as it played on the arena’s loudspeakers. Later, wearing his latest gold medal, Bolt waved his fingers toward the stands, trying to get fans to do the wave. They did, of course.
He arrived at these Olympics with the stated intention of becoming a “living legend,” something he considered a done deal after his victory in the 200. Before Saturday’s race, the head of track and field’s governing body, Lamine Diack, agreed, saying the sprinter had “entered the legendary.” In more than a century of modern Olympics, no man had set world records while winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay—until Bolt did it in Beijing. None had won the 200 metres twice, let alone completed a 100-200 double twice—until Bolt did so in 2008 and 2012. Now he’s added a second consecutive sprint relay title, too, for a Double Triple. Jamaica won Saturday without Asafa Powell, who held the 100 world record from 2005 until Bolt claimed it in 2008, and was the anchor on the Jamaican team that won the 4x100 four years ago. Powell injured his groin and pulled up during the 100 in London. No matter. The team drafted a pretty decent guy to take his place on the final leg. Don’t forget, a chorus of questions greeted Bolt at these Olympics. Was he completely healthy? Was he still as fast as the guy who set the world records of 9.58 for the 100, and 19.19 for the 200, at the world championships three years ago? And, most of all, having lost twice to Blake at the Jamaican Olympic trials, could Bolt still claim to be the best in the world if he wasn’t even the best in his own country? International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge thinks any judgment of Bolt’s place in history needs to be withheld until his career is over. Rogge said it would take more than two superb Summer Games to cement Bolt’s status. Bolt was asked about Rogge’s comments. “Next time you see him, I think you need to ask him what Usain needs to do that no human man has ever done, because I’ve done it already,” Bolt said. “I don’t know what else to do, really.”
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Warne_wants_Bolt_for_Big_Bash-166066896.html
Warne wants Bolt for Big Bash
Story Created: Aug 13, 2012 at 10:59 PM ECT
Usain Bolt could repackage himself as a big-hitting cricketer in Australia's Big Bash League after defending his sprint double at the London Olympics, local media reported yesterday.
The Jamaican told Channel Nine he had been contacted by Shane Warne about joining the spin great at the Melbourne Stars club in the Twenty20 league, which begins in December.
"He contacted me and asked me about if I am serious and if I really want to do it then he can put in a few words that should get it done," Bolt told Channel Nine.
"We will see if I get the time off. I will try. Twenty20, I love it. Just the fact that it is so exciting, it's about going hard the whole time, not just about playing shots.
"It's about being aggressive and I like that style of batsman," added Bolt, who retained 100 and 200 metres titles and helped break the 4x100m world record in London.
The 25-year-old, who said he wanted a trial at English soccer giants Manchester United at the Games, first indicated his interest in the Big Bash League earlier this year.
Melbourne's chief executive Clint Cooper said Bolt, who grew up playing street cricket and soccer in Jamaica, could fill one of the few remaining slots in the squad.
"We're going to...re-engage with him and his management company," Cooper was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. "We've got a couple of spots left on our list."
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(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/226259_4540213747173_1219491409_n.jpg)
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt_considers_options_for_Rio-167137515.html
Bolt considers options for Rio
Story Created: Aug 23, 2012 at 12:01 AM ECT
Usain Bolt is a definite starter for another Olympic Games in four years' time, opening up the possibility of more sprint records or an attempt at other events, the six-time gold medallist said yesterday.
Speculation has been rife since the London Games that the Olympic 100 and 200 metres champion could quit athletics and not compete at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. His hunger for success, however, appears to be showing no signs of abating.
"Yes definitely I will be there (in Rio), as long as I'm fit and I'm ready," Bolt said at a promotional event in Lausanne yesterday.
"It'll be a little bit harder but I'm looking forward to it."
The possibility of Bolt, also a member of Jamaica's world record-breaking 4x100 relay team in London, switching from the sprints to the 400 or long jump has long been debated.
American Carl Lewis —who like Bolt claimed back-to-back Olympic 100 titles—was also a four-time men's long jump gold medallist, dominating the event from 1984 in Los Angeles to Atlanta in 1996. "It's just about making different goals, there's a lot of things I can do in the sport," Bolt said.
"My coach wants me to do 400 metres, I want to try long jump.
"I could always try to aim for the records again, so there's different things but after the season we'll decide what we want to do and work on that next season."The newly-turned 26-year-old also told the Hublot watch event that his dream of one day becoming a footballer still burned bright.
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Usain Bolt targets 19-second barrier in 200m
29 August 2012 Last updated at 17:47
Sprint legend Usain Bolt says he wants to break the 19-second barrier in the 200m, which he insists is his "favourite event", next season.
Bolt, who holds the world record of 19.19 seconds and is a two-time Olympic champion at the distance, says his only aim at London 2012 was to "defend his titles" and not to break his own records, although the Jamaican adds he could "definitely" have broken the 200m mark.
Bolt also jokes about asking Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson for a trial.
Click link to view interview on BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/19414271
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt__I_stayed_on_for_the_fans-168236986.html
Bolt: I stayed on for the fans
Story Created: Aug 31, 2012 at 11:56 PM ECT
lSwitzerland
As the curtain comes down on a gruelling season, Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt says if it were not for the fans he would have ended his campaign earlier.
Bolt clocked 19.66 seconds to win the 200 metres at the Zurich Diamond league Thursday before signing off his campaign on the international circuit this year.
The 25-year-old sprint sensation defied rain and chilly temperatures to break American Wallace Spearmon's meet record of 19.79 set two years ago.
"The fans, those are the guys I come out here to run for. If things were different, if it were up to me, I would just call it a season," said Bolt.
"It's been a long season and it's been mentally draining and physically hard for me. So for me to actually finish the season on a high is good for me."
The two-time triple Olympic gold medallist says he is happy to be ending the season fit and injury free.
In July, public concerns over Bolt's fitness surfaced following reports that he was suffering from niggling leg and back problems.
However, he was declared fit and ready to race after visiting renowned sports doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in Germany.
"My back is deteriorating a little bit so I don't want to push my body and then pull a hamstring before the end of the season and then I have to go to the doctor and then I have to start the season off slower than I normally would," Bolt explained.
"So I want to make sure that at the end of the season I want to make sure I am fit and ready to start the next season." — CMC
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bolt_quietly_back_in_Jamaica-169411166.html
Bolt quietly back in Jamaica
Story Created: Sep 11, 2012 at 11:01 PM ECT
lKINGSTON
Eschewing delirious crowds at the airport, Olympic sprinting champion Usain Bolt returned to Jamaica in uncharacteristically low-key style.
There were no adoring throngs, none of his signature skyward points or other antics. There was just a quietly organised news conference yesterday at Bolt's restaurant and night club in Kingston with a few dozen journalists, business people, and politicians in attendance.
Bolt's publicist, Carole Beckford, said the 6-foot-5 superstar quietly returned home Saturday, and nobody but his inner circle knew he was back in his Caribbean homeland, which adores him yet wants a piece of him at almost every turn.
Last week in Belgium, hours after his last race of the season, Bolt said he was a bit nervous about returning to Jamaica, where his countrymen celebrated each of his three victories at the London Olympics with intense enthusiasm. Crowds of impassioned Jamaicans danced, shouted and embraced in the streets as he dominated the competition.
"I've seen what Jamaican fans are like when I go back home. That is more scary than anything else," he told reporters in Brussels.
At yesterday's news conference in Jamaica's capital, the world's fastest man thanked his coach, his family and his fervent fans for all their support, saying that "there were a lot of doubters" after a sometimes challenging season. Speaking to the cameras, a subdued Bolt added, "I have one thing to say: Never doubt a champion."
For weeks before the Olympics, Jamaicans had been debating whether Bolt or his rival and teammate Yohan Blake would win in London. Blake, Bolt's blisteringly fast workout partner, had beaten Bolt in the 100 metres and 200 metres finals at Jamaica's Olympic trials and Bolt's subsequent withdrawal from a meet in Monaco set up one of the most anticipated story lines of the 2012 Olympics.
But Bolt delivered electrifying performances in London, just as he did at the Beijing Games in 2008. He said he accomplished exactly what he hoped. He competed in three events—and won gold medals in all three: the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
"I am the best and will always be the best," he said yesterday at Tracks & Records, his restaurant and night club, which features a DJ booth where he sometimes spins records, a 200-seat main floor with TVs, a bar, a few "VIP" areas and even a shop to buy Usain Bolt merchandise.
In more than a century of modern Olympics, no man had set world records while winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay—until Bolt did in Beijing in 2008. None had won the 200m twice, let alone completed a 100-200 double twice—until Bolt did it in 2008 and 2012.
Bolt repeatedly said his goal in London was to win three gold medals again and come home from London as nothing less than a "living legend".
Natalie Neita-Headley, Jamaica's Cabinet minister with responsibility for sports, compared him to the island's most revered son, reggae icon Bob Marley.
"Like Bob before him, he has achieved that legendary status," Neita-Headley said.
Asked if there is any downside to being a "living legend," Bolt responded: "I've just become a legend so I'll let you know in a few days."
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US 300,000 to bring Bolt to France (http://i955fm.com/us-300000-to-bring-bolt-to-france)
Feb. 28Sport news, Track & Field
Organisers have shelled out US 300,000 to bring Six-times Olympic champion Usain Bolt to France to run the 200 metres at the Paris Diamond League meeting July 6.
The Jamaican world-record holder will compete against France’s European 100 meters champion Christophe Lemaitre in the final race of the evening. Lemaitre finished third in the 2011 Daegu world championships 200 meters which was won by Bolt.
Head of the meeting, Laurent Boquillet, said the fee was standard for a runner of Bolt’s caliber. “With Bolt, we know that we will easily fill the Stade de France,” said Boquillet adding that before his Olympic triple feat last year, he was available for US 250,000 per meeting.
Bolt won 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold at last year’s Olympics in London, repeating the feat that he first achieved in Beijing four years earlier, and cementing his reputation as one of the greatest sprinters of all time. He is using the event in July as part of his buildup for the Moscow world athletics championships the following month.
Bolt, 26, will compete in a 150 meters race on Brazil’s Copacabana beach on March 31. His only other confirmed race this year is over 200 meters at Oslo’s Bislett Games on June 13.
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Three-peat Bolt gets AIPS award (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Three-peat-Bolt-gets-AIPS-award-220069581.html)
By Kwame Laurence (T&T Express) in Moscow
Story Created: Aug 17, 2013 at 9:11 PM ECT
Usain Bolt receives award from AIPS America
http://www.youtube.com/v/-NQplUIcCrM
Kwame Laurence of Trinidad & Tobago makes presentation on behalf of AIPS America to World & Olympic champion Usain Bolt. Bolt was voted AIPS America's Male Athlete of Year 2012.
Usain Bolt captured his third men’s 200 metres world title on the trot, at the Luzhniki Stadium here in Moscow, Russia, yesterday, and was then presented with the 2012 AIPS America Male Athlete of the Year award for his superb showing at the London Olympics.
Bolt completed his half-lap hat-trick on the penultimate day of the 14th IAAF World Championships, stopping the clock at 19.66 seconds—the fastest time in the world this year. His Jamaica teammate, Warren Weir produced a personal best 19.79, running out in lane eight, to seize silver.
American Curtis Mitchell got to the line in 20.04 seconds, claiming bronze and preventing Jamaica from sweeping the medals. The third Jamaican in the championship race, Nickel Ashmeade clocked 20.05 to finish fourth.
Just before he attended the post-race press conference, Bolt received the AIPS America award from Trinidad Express sports journalist Kwame Laurence. AIPS is the international association for sports journalists.
In May, at the AIPS America 2012 awards ceremony, Bolt and Colombian Mariana Pajon were named the top sports personalities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pajon, the Olympic BMX cycling gold medallist, received the Female Athlete of the Year Award. But Bolt, a triple gold medallist at the London Games, was unable to attend the function.
In an interview with the Express, afterwards, Bolt expressed his gratitude.
“Yeah man. Appreciate it. Thanks.
“Through what I’ve been through with journalists over the years--I’ve been through some good, some bad stuff--it’s always good to be recognised by them, because I know” he quipped, “that they’re not as bad as I thought they were.”
Less than two hours before the presentation, Bolt was on the Mondo track, completing the 2013 World Championship men’s sprint double. Last Sunday, he had regained the 100m title in 9.77 seconds.
Bolt will again be on centre-stage today, the final day of the Championships, bidding for gold number three in the 4x100m relay.
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Usain's goals are two-fold (http://www.trackalerts.com/Articles/usains-goals-are-two-fold/13977/)
By Anthony Foster in New York
June 13th, 2015 8:31am (TrackAlerts.com)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20makes%20his%20point.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20makes%20his%20point.jpg.html)
Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt has two main goals before he retires from Track & Field. On Friday, June 12, he told the Adidas Grand Prix Press Conference, "The hardest one is trying to get under 19 seconds.”
Continuing, he said, “The other is to sweep the Olympics sprints for a third time in Rio next year.”
Bolt won back-to-back Olympic Games sprint double titles in Beijng 2008 and London 2012. He also said he will retire after the World Championships in 2017.
"Those are my two big goals. That's what keeps me going, keeps me motivated. Next season is going to be a big season, but I have to take it one step at a time,” revealed the world record holder of the 100m (9.58) and 200m (19.19).
He added that if he is to break 19 seconds in the 200m, he would “have to get back in the mode of running a lot of 200 metres and getting back to the perfection that I'm used to, running the curve.”
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Bolt worried, but will not back down (http://www.trackalerts.com/Articles/bolt-worried-but-will-not-back-down/13988/)
By Anthony Foster, TrackAlerts.Com Writer
June 15th, 2015 10:15am (TrackAlerts.com)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20at%20DL%20Press%20Conference_1.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20at%20DL%20Press%20Conference_1.jpg.html)
Usain Bolt at Diamond League Press Conference
Usain Bolt said even if he is not at his best, he will not back down from any challenge for the upcoming IAAF World Championships in Beijing (Video Below).
Bolt has been having a below par season and repeatedly speaks about his unhappiness.
Asked by this journalist at the post race press briefing at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York, if he would take on the double in Beijing if not at his best, he replied, “I always want to compete at my best, even when I'm not at my best, I always want to go out there and do my best, because the fans want to see you compete.”
“I don’t want anybody to say I back down from a challenge, so that’s why I have to work and get it right in Beijing,” added the World record holder for 100m (9.58) and 200m (19.19).
Bolt won Saturday’s 200m event in 20.29. His 100m season best is 10.12.
The back-to-back Olympic Games sprint double champion is uncomfortable with his season so far.
“I’m happy about my legacy but this season is not going so smoothly, I’m trying to figure out what’s going on, I need to get on top of things, trying to work my way back, …With this pace, my legacy is going to be in trouble,” he said.
Bolt now believes he may have to run at Jamaica Trials – June 25-28 in Kingston. “After this, I think I might be competing at the National Trials, but I will have to talk to my coach…”
Usain Bolt remains unhappy with his 2015 season
https://www.youtube.com/v/vUFVhnbhpgk
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Bolt withdraws from Jamaica trials (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150625/sports/bolt-withdraws-from-jamaica-trials)
Published on Jun 25, 2015, 7:20 pm AST (T&T Express)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20Jamaican%20amp%20world%20record%20holder%20100m%20amp%20200m.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20Jamaican%20amp%20world%20record%20holder%20100m%20amp%20200m.jpg.html)
Questions over fitness, form: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
Usain Bolt’s lack of form combined with his late withdrawal from the Jamaican 100 metres national trials yesterday have raised more doubts about the future of the world’s fastest man.
The towering sprinter had intended to run in the trials as a sharpener, but the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association confirmed he had pulled out two months before the world championships in Beijing, China.
Six-times Olympic gold medallist Bolt, who qualifies for world championships as defending champion in both events, has struggled this year with moderate best times of 10.12 seconds for the 100 and 20.13 in the 200.
The 28-year-old expressed uncharacteristic concerns after a sluggish 20.29 to win the 200 at the recent New York Diamond League meeting in the US.
“I’m not happy about my performance. My turn was horrible, I don’t know what happened,” Bolt said. “My worst turn ever.
“After I came off the turn, I knew it wasn’t going to be fast... so I pretty much just wanted to get home.”
Bolt’s 2014 season was limited by injuries, but he was the star attraction at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, winning gold in the 4x100 relay.
With 2015 continuing in a similar vein, Bolt, the only man to win the 100 and 200 in back-to-back Olympics, would surely have wanted to lay down a marker at the Jamaican trials following the resurgence of Justin Gatlin.
Controversial United States sprinter Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, has become the man to beat after setting or equalling lifetime bests in both the 100 and 200 this year.
Gatlin has not raced Bolt since 2013, but the 33-year-old 2004 Olympic gold medallist is hoping his rival returns to his best at the world championships so he can dethrone the Jamaican in Beijing.
“What is it really going to amount to if I go out there and run against Usain when he is not at his best,” Gatlin told Reuters.
“That is not a great storyline. It is not a race I would like to go out and win. I want Usain at his best, and I think he wants me at my best. That’s what people want to see.”
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Bolt camp plays down fitness concerns (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150626/sports/bolt-camp-plays-down-fitness-concerns)
Published on Jun 26, 2015, 9:03 pm AST (T&T Express)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20-%20WORLDrsquoS%20FASTEST%20HUMAN.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20-%20WORLDrsquoS%20FASTEST%20HUMAN.jpg.html)
WORLD’S FASTEST HUMAN: Usain Bolt
KINGSTON - Usain Bolt’s management team have moved to play down fitness concerns surrounding the sprinting great. The six-time Olympic gold medallist has not been at his best this season and has decided not to compete at this week’s Jamaican National Senior Championships, having been entered for the 100 metres on Thursday.
However, the 28-year-old’s manager Ricky Simms says Bolt had never been a definite participant at the meeting. Bolt is yet to run below 10 seconds at 100 metres this year.
Simms said: “Usain was never confirmed to run at the trials, he put his name in to have the option.
“I already told the media that coach (Glen) Mills would make a decision on Wednesday if he (Bolt) needed the race or if he preferred him to train ahead of Paris and Lausanne.”
As the defending champion at both events, Bolt qualifies automatically for the 100m and 200m at August’s World Championship in Paris.
He is now scheduled to return to action at the Diamond League meeting in Paris a week on Saturday before racing in Lausanne five days later.
Bolt is the world record holder at 100m and 200m but has been below-par this year so far, with best times of 10.12 seconds and 20.13 seconds over the two distances.
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Bolt cancels Paris and Lausanne Diamond League meetings (http://www.trackalerts.com/Articles/bolt-cancels-paris-and-lausanne-diamond-league-meetings/14077/#)
June 30th, 2015 1:01pm (TrackAlerts.com)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%2001.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%2001.jpg.html)
Usain Bolt ...getting treatment for blocked sacroiliac joint
Six-time Olympic Champion Usain Bolt has withdrawn from two upcmoning meets.
Bolt, who last week pulled out of the Jamaica Championships, on Tuesday (30 June) informed the organisers of the Paris and Lausanne Diamond League meetings that he will be unable to compete in their events on July 4 and July 9.
According to a release from Bolt’s team, “the 28 year old Jamaican has been feeling discomfort in his left leg since his last competition which has restricted his training.”
“He visited Doctor Müller-Wohlfahrt in Munich who confirmed that he has a blocked sacroiliac joint which is restricting his movement and putting pressure on his knee and ankle,” the release said.
“Usain will spend the next couple of days in Munich getting treatment after which he will resume full training in his quest to defend his titles at the IAAF World T&F Championships in Beijing at the end of August.
Bolt, in his last week, over 200m in New York earlier this month, won in 20.29. He has yet to run sub-10 or below 20 seconds this season.
“I’m disappointed not to be able to compete in Paris and Lausanne. I love running at these meetings but at the moment I am unable to compete at 100%. I look forward to getting back into full training as soon as possible”, said Bolt.
Bolt is still hopeful he will be able to defend his sprint double titles at the Beijing World Championships in August.
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Playing dead to ketch cobo alive!
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Injured Usain Bolt pulls out of Diamond League meetings (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150630/sports/injured-usain-bolt-pulls-out-of-diamond-league-meetings)
Published on Jun 30, 2015, 1:00 pm AST (T&T Express)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20Jamaican%20sprinter.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20Jamaican%20sprinter.jpg.html)
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, an Olympic gold medalist and world record holder, listens during a press conference for the Diamond League track and field meet, Friday, June 12, 2015, in New York. Bolt is returning to the New York track at Randall's Island where he began his dominance with his first world record seven years ago, running in an individual race in Saturday's meet.
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
PARIS (AP) — Slowed by an injured left leg, Usain Bolt withdrew Tuesday from this month's Diamond League meetings in Paris and Lausanne, dealing a blow to his title defense preparations for the world championships in August.
"I'm disappointed not to be able to compete in Paris and Lausanne," Bolt said in a statement on his website. "I love running at these meetings but at the moment I am unable to compete at 100 percent. I look forward to getting back into full training as soon as possible."
The statement said the 28-year-old "has been feeling discomfort in his left leg since his last competition which has restricted his training."
Bolt's last race was a 200 meters in New York on June 13 that he described as "really bad." His time of 20.29 was more than a second off his world record of 19.19. He said then that he felt good physically and was bewildered why he ran what he called "probably one of the worst turns I've ever had in my entire life."
Bolt also was a no-show at the Jamaica trials last week where he had been expected to sharpen his sprinting form against the likes of Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake.
Bolt's agent, Ricky Simms, said then that the 100- and 200-meter world record holder was never certain to run at the trials and suggested that Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, instead preferred him to train rather than race ahead of the Paris meet on Saturday and the Lausanne event on July 9.
Bolt's doctor in Munich, Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, diagnosed a blocked joint "which is restricting his movement and putting pressure on his knee and ankle," the statement on Bolt's website said.
It said Bolt will spend the next couple of days in Munich getting treatment "after which he will resume full training in his quest to defend his titles" in the 100 and 200 at the world championships in Beijing.
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Is Bolt running from losing? (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20150630/bolt-running-losing)
Published: Tuesday | June 30, 2015 | Oral Tracey, Contributor | Jamaica Gleaner
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Usain Bolt and his biggest rivals - Asafa Powel - Justin Gatlin - Tyson Gay
The mystery surrounding the status and form of world sprint superstar Usain Bolt intensified last weekend when the double Olympic sprint champion failed to turn up at the Jamaica national championships.
The initial impression was given by Bolt himself after one of the mediocre performances when he hinted that, despite not needing to, he was considering running at the trials because he needs more races to get the sharpness necessary to defend his titles in Beijing in late August.
Then the news came that Bolt's name was indeed on the preliminary list of entrants for the shorter sprint, only to learn that the day before the event the big man was not entered on the final start list. As it is, the trials came and went without him.
Being one of the first persons to identify and admit that Bolt was in trouble with his form this season, I went as far as to make the unpopular pronouncement that the big Jamaican will lose his 100-metre World title to the American, Justin Gatlin, in Beijing, which at the time brought accusations of my being disloyal, unpatriotic and even committing treason. From that perspective, I am disappointed, but not very surprised by this latest turn of events.
Hope Vs Reality
Several weeks on and with the problems of Bolt still obviously unsolved, I hope a lot of the emotionalism surrounding this issue has dissipated and that Jamaicans can now look and see objectively the difference between hope and reality.
Bolt is an absolute phenomenon, but he is human and he obviously needs much more work, and specifically, the competition to be had, only by competing in more races.
Why then would he give up such a great opportunity to get at least two solid races under his belt, as was on offer at the Jamaica championships?
The advent of the new coming of Asafa Powell must be a factor. Without the threat of losing to an in-form Powell, I think Bolt would have competed at the championships. It is fair game, I think, to extrapolate by the way the situation unfolded that Bolt could be 'running' from Powell.
The fact of the matter, though, is Bolt, at this stage of his career, is much more than an athlete. He is a global brand which translates into a lucrative business enterprise.
Having achieved the status he has, protecting and preserving his legacy is of the utmost importance to him and his management team.
Best Option
In that context, maybe the best thing for Bolt right now is to pull out of the entire 2015 season, including missing the World Championships.
In light of what is happening with his rivals Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and even now Powell, where they all pose a genuine threat to his titles, and with the task of him scrambling into title-winning shape proving to be more difficult than initially thought, instead of exposing himself to losing and all the negatives attached, the option is always open to Bolt and his camp to turn to that old excuse of his bad back.
Organise a trip or two to his famous German doctor and declare the big man injured. The world would never know for sure.
Start the preparation for the Rio Olympics immediately, get into tip-top, unbeatable shape and go out with a bang, legacy intact.
What is happening now with Bolt is farcical. It is difficult to conclude anything else except that he is running from losing.
While we would all love to see him race the best the world has to offer, there is clear and present danger this season of him doing major damage to his substantial legacy.
Bolt has nothing more to prove, he has done it all, and won it all, earning the right to go out on his terms. In the long run, the disappointment of not seeing the big clash between himself and Gatlin in Beijing will eventually pale in comparison to the bigger picture of maintaining the substantial legacy of the legend Usain Bolt.
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10 JUL 2015 General News, London, UK
Bolt to light up London – IAAF Diamond League (http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-diamond-league/news/london-diamond-league-2015-usain-bolt)
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20at%20IAAF%20Diamond%20League%20meeting%20in%20London.png) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20at%20IAAF%20Diamond%20League%20meeting%20in%20London.png.html)
Usain Bolt at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London (Getty Images) © Copyright
The world's biggest athletics superstar, Usain Bolt, will lead a stellar global cast at the re-opening of the London Olympic Stadium for the IAAF Diamond League meeting on Friday 24 July.
Fans are expected to flock to the stadium to relive memories of the 2012 Olympics at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games, where the line-up features Bolt, world 800m record-holder David Rudisha, world indoor high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, British superstars Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford and many more reigning global champions.
Bolt – considered to be one of the greatest sportsmen of all time – last competed individually in the UK at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games in 2013 where he won the 100m in 9.85.
The 100m and 200m world record-holder, winner of six Olympic and eight world titles, is looking forward to returning to the scene of his spectacular Olympic triumphs.
“London is a special place where I love to compete and I am looking forward to the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games on July 24," said Bolt, who will contest the 100m in London.
“I have great memories of competing in the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2012 and in the previous Grand Prix meets in London.
“The British fans are always great and I expect there will also be a lot of Jamaican fans in the stadium. It will be amazing to put on another great show for them under the floodlights on the Friday night.”
The IAAF Diamond League action at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games is spread across 24-25 July. The event takes place just four weeks before the IAAF World Championships in Beijing and will be the final time the original London 2012 track is used before a new surface is laid for the IAAF World Championships, London 2017.
Organisers for the IAAF
2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar
Doha, QAT – 15 May
Shanghai, CHN – 17 May
Eugene, USA – 30 May
Rome, ITA – 4 June
Birmingham, GBR – 7 June
Oslo, NOR – 11 June
New York, USA – 13 June
Paris, FRA – 4 July
Lausanne, SUI – 9 July
Monaco, MON – 17 July
London, GBR – 24-25 July
Stockholm, SWE – 30 July
Zurich, SUI – 3 September
Brussels, BEL – 11 September
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Anatomy of a champion: Michael Johnson on Usain Bolt (http://www.olympic.org/news/anatomy-of-a-champion-michael-johnson-on-usain-bolt/242298)
13/04/2015 (IOC News)
Michael Johnson analyzes Usain Bolt's 100m gold | Greats on Greats
https://www.youtube.com/v/oXcFlTj8mIU
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson analyses the technique that has helped make Usain Bolt the greatest sprinter of all time.
Usain Bolt is nothing short of an Olympic phenomenon. The Jamaican sprinter won three gold medals in Beijing in 2008 and a further three at London 2012. He holds the Olympic record for the 100m, and in 2008 and 2012 he was part of the Jamaican relay teams that broke the world record for the 4x100m. The question is how does he do it?
Bolt is certainly unique. In sprinting terms he’s taller than average and while he continues to set new records, the big question is whether or not he can run even faster.
Bolt has already broken the 100m record three times and the 200m record twice, but you only have to look at some of his finishes, particularly when he often slows before the line in qualifying rounds, to see that he might be able to go even quicker still. His technique looks relaxed; playful even… so is there room for improvement?
The man himself believes he is capable of setting new standards. "I've heard that the fastest a man can go is 9.4 seconds for 100m," he said in a previous interview. "I think it's possible for me to run that."
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Richard%20Thompson%20lane%201%20starts%20London%202012%20100m%20Final.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Richard%20Thompson%20lane%201%20starts%20London%202012%20100m%20Final.jpg.html)
The key to Bolt’s success, according to Michael Johnson, is his performance during the first 30m of the race, a rarity for such a tall athlete. Height is often seen as a hindrance for a sprinter. In many cases, a lower centre of gravity enables sprinters to start and reach their top speeds quicker. Bolt, who stands 1.95m, defies such conventional wisdom. Fellow sprint legends Linford Christie and Carl Lewis, who while shorter than the Jamaican were still both taller than 1.80m, overcame any height disadvantage through power and technique in the latter stages of their races.
However, both would often suffer from slow starts before overtaking their competitors. Bolt, in contrast, starts strongly. In 2008 in Beijing, during the first phase of his victory, he’s in line with his competitors until he pulls clear from around 40m. On further analysis through Bolt’s back catalogue of victories, it’s clear he has been able to keep pace with his competitors in the first phase of his races much more than Christie and Lewis ever did.
In 2009, for example, biomechanical analysis was carried out on Bolt’s split times (every 10m across 100m) and average velocity. Remarkably, Bolt was not only quicker than his nearest rival in 20m out of the 30m in the first phase; he was also quicker in nine of the ten splits. His average velocity was greater in every 10-second split, too.
And then, of course, Bolt has the power to pull away once he reaches top speed, a result of now infamous long stride. It was this that helped him move from sixth to pole position after an uncharacteristic slow start to win in London in 2012. These strides have become as much of a signature move as his ‘lightning bolt’ celebration, and one which many will expect to see once again in Rio in 2016, as the Jamaican looks to add to his gold medal tally.
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Usain%20Bolt%20doing%20his%20lsquolightning%20boltrsquo%20celebration.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Usain%20Bolt%20doing%20his%20lsquolightning%20boltrsquo%20celebration.jpg.html)
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Interview: Usain Bolt days before he runs at The Anniversary Games London 2015
https://www.youtube.com/v/4sSrqYktPOQ
The One Show is going out with a bang, as Alex and Patrick are joined by Usain Bolt to talk about racing in London.
Usain Bolt 9.87 wins 100m final DL London 2015 - FULL HD
https://www.youtube.com/v/deMdkjsHYug
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Sprint supremo Usain Bolt says he is taking his time before August's Beijing world championships.
Usain Bolt ready for Justin Gatlin showdown at World Championships
https://www.youtube.com/v/Y1YJ_2DFj1o
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The boss will be ready for them yankeys lol how can they stop a lightening bolt
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Usain Bolt relaxing after gruelling training for World Champs (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20150813/usain-bolt-relaxing-after-gruelling-training-world-champs)
Published:Thursday August 13, 2015, Andre Lowe, Special Projects Editor - Sports
Jamaica-Gleaner.com
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Bolt ...spent the past few weeks being tuned by his coach Glen Mills
The world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, spent the past few days taking it slow in Monte Carlo, Monaco as he gets ready to unleash some speed at next week's IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.
Bolt, who spent the past few weeks being tuned by his coach Glen Mills has been given the time to recover after some gruelling work in training with strong indications that the defending world 100m and 200m champion is primed and ready to show his class inside the Bird's Nest.
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p12/Socapro/Glen%20Mills%20JA%20Racers%20Head%20coach.jpg) (http://s124.photobucket.com/user/Socapro/media/Glen%20Mills%20JA%20Racers%20Head%20coach.jpg.html)
Bolt's coach, Glen Mills
The Jamaican has had an up-and-down season after being hampered by a pelvic issue but twice ran 9.87 within a hour at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games in London a few weeks ago to pretty much confirm reports that he was nearing his best.
As earlier reported by The Gleaner, Bolt is expected to arrive at Jamaica's pre-championships camp on Friday to meet up with the rest of his team-mates in Tottori, Japan before travelling with the group to Beijing on Monday or Tuesday.
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Bolt's main rival, Justin Gatlin
Bolt is expected to be challenged for both sprint titles by in-form American Justin Gatlin, who has the fastest time this year in both events and has gone unbeaten in almost 30 races since 2013.
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The Definitive Usain Bolt Interview Pt. 2
http://rutube.ru/video/a35a1aba8b7c3bbfda00660b67192a15/
He Talks about his coach, his parents and living for the big moments.
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Well done to the Mighty Usain Bolt for completing the historic Treble-Treble!!
Greatest sprinter that has ever lived and he now has the medals and records to prove it!!
Bolt should go out on top, what else is there that is left for him to prove now?!
The only thing left for Bolt to do is to lower both his world records which I think will become harder and harder for him to do after he has passed the age of 30.
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Usain Bolt just signed the biggest endorsement deal in Nike history
By Editor
In General News
Nike has signed Usain Bolt to a lifetime deal, ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports.
The contract is the largest single-athlete deal in Nike’s 46-year history. It also marks the first time that Nike has officially given a lifetime deal.
Usain Bolt, who is entering a new phase of his career, is reportedly billed to earn as much as $30 million annually.
According to Rovell, Bolt’s new deal “easily surpasses” the 10-year, $300 million deal Kevin Durant signed with Nike in 2014.
SportsOneSource reports that Bolt will have his own signature shoe line with Nike and is expected to wear them for all his track events, and Forbes predicts a $340 million sales from Bolt’s customised shoes annually.
http://theguard1an.com/usain-bolt-just-signed-the-biggest-endorsement-deal-in-nike-history/
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Such benefits.
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Usain Bolt just signed the biggest endorsement deal in Nike history
By Editor
In General News
Nike has signed Usain Bolt to a lifetime deal, ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports.
The contract is the largest single-athlete deal in Nike’s 46-year history. It also marks the first time that Nike has officially given a lifetime deal.
Usain Bolt, who is entering a new phase of his career, is reportedly billed to earn as much as $30 million annually.
According to Rovell, Bolt’s new deal “easily surpasses” the 10-year, $300 million deal Kevin Durant signed with Nike in 2014.
SportsOneSource reports that Bolt will have his own signature shoe line with Nike and is expected to wear them for all his track events, and Forbes predicts a $340 million sales from Bolt’s customised shoes annually.
http://theguard1an.com/usain-bolt-just-signed-the-biggest-endorsement-deal-in-nike-history/
:thumbsup:
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Yuh mustn't repeat everything yuh hear. Garbage news...Bolt is PUMA for life!
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Borussia Dortmund CEO confirms Usain Bolt will train with club
ESPN Staff
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt will train with the club.
Bolt, 30, revealed the news in an interview on Saturday in which he also reiterated his hope to play for Manchester United, the team he supports.
"We've decided this some time ago," Watzke told Sport Bild. "Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden, who is a member of our board, has told us that Usain is highly interested in practising with us. For us that's no problem. Our coach Thomas Tuchel likes the idea as well.
"Of course he won't visit us in an important week with Champions League matches, but maybe in the preseason. We are delighted and take this as an honour."
Bolt is a nine-time Olympic gold medallist having competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, winning the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100m relay in each.
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http://margueriteorane.com/vol93/?platform=hootsuite
It’s not About You – Lesson from the World’s Greatest Sprint Coach
August 18, 2017
Top image: Marguerite and her hero, Coach Glen Mills
I glimpsed the top of his head 3 rows below me. Balding, the remaining shards of his hair gray, he sat alone, seats vacant on either side, his shoulders rounded. Through the phalanx of black, green and gold clad spectators and flags, I saw his stillness, his solitude. The fans were about their business; his was complete. I wondered how many people in that stadium had passed this unassuming man – paunchy, a bit dishevelled, a missing tooth – thinking, if at all even noticing him, that he was some retired plumber, electrician or tradesman. Usain Bolt was retiring from what everyone acknowledges as a sterling, nay legendary career as the GOAT – the Greatest Of All Time. The gentleman seated 3 rows below me in the London Olympic Stadium was his coach, Glen Mills, another GOAT – the Greatest (sprint coach) Of All Time.
As a coach, not of athletes, but of leaders, I am inspired by this man. I have studied him from afar, through interviews, articles, videos on Bolt – always noticing the man behind Bolt, what he says and does (and I had the joy of a brief introduction at the stadium). In that moment of noticing him in the stadium, I got this from him about coaching:
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.
You rarely see photos or videos of Coach Mills at competitions. How easy it would be for him to share the spotlight, to prance with Bolt, to be a part of the show. But in those moments of winning, Coach Mills knows that it is not about him – it is the moment for his protege to shine.
And so it is with leaders. The ability to coach is an essential skill for successful leaders. As a leader, it’s not about you. It’s about those whom you lead. It’s about helping them to be the best they can be; to be better than, greater than what they ever thought for themselves. It’s about seeing something in them and urging them beyond their limits to their magnificent best. And when they succeed, it’s about sitting quietly, in the background, whilst they get the accolades. It’s about creating Bolts in your organization, without fanfare, allowing their performance to speak for itself.
Today, what can you do to help a team member be the very best they can possibly be? How can you step out of their light and allow them to shine? When your team members are great, that’s when you are great. The world will know your greatness as a leader by their accomplishments.
And stay tuned – in my next blog, I will share some key lessons for leaders that I have gleaned from Coach Mills
FOR SIMILAR POSTS BY MARGUERITE:
Usain Bolt – That’s Just Me – click HERE to view article
Hold Your Form – click HERE to view article
Lessons From World Class Athletes – click HERE to view article
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So true. Wish more could understand the concept.