Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt is tuning up to claim the sprint treble, whereby if successful he will win three gold medals for the third successive time. Usain Bolt dances samba at a press conference.
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“First of all”, said Usain Bolt, stepping to a Rio press conference stage, “you’ve got to clap louder than that”.
“I think I can definitely break the 200m world record and I definitely want to”, Bolt said. And he ended like only Usain could do. I saw the interview and I was like, I never said that why did you say that? “You know, people often ask the secrets to our success but we have an fantastic sprinting culture, great coaches and training groups”, he says. “I’ve done enough and I’ve proven myself over and over again”. The Jamaican athlete gave the opening ceremony a miss and is focussed on defending his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles he clinched at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
“We asked for a TV and somebody tell me they were going to get it”, he said.
On the walls one graffiti artist had painted Bolt crouching down in a starting position looking intently Christ the Redeemer.
Bolt explained that the 100 meter sprint is not stressful but he feels nervous in the 200-meter race.
Anything he does in Rio, however, will only add to what is already one of the most illustrious resumes in the sport.
“I go out there to compete and wow the crowd and entertain”.
Bolt is expected to compete in the 100- and 200-meter races, as well as the 4×100 relay at these Rio Games.
“As a young kid you grow up looking forward to the big Games”, he said. I think people should have faith.
“It looks like we get attached by octopuses”, said three-time U.S. Olympian Dana Vollmer, fresh off a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly.
He is almost seven years removed from his world record times in the 100- and 200-meter races, but he is still the man to beat every time he is in the starting blocks.
The man who is considered the saviour of the sport believes that athletics is heading in the right direction, despite the numerous doping scandals, and urged people to have faith.
It is seven years now since Bolt ran his world records – 9.58 for 100m and 19.19 for 200m – in Berlin, also, coincidentally, on a blue track.
He declared after retaining his 100m and 200m crowns in London that he had become a “living legend”. “I try to entertain and make it different”.
“I really, really, really want that one“. Bolt now holds the record at 19.19 seconds.
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But Bolt refused to go out with a whimper, and as the press conference drew to a close he revealed something else was in store.
