Reigning 100m & 200m champ gears up to defend his title at Worlds
Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt gestures during a press conference ahead of the Athletics World Championships in Beijing on Wednesday. The World Championships begin on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)
Beijing: Not for the first time, sprint king Usain Bolt — arguably world sport’s most recognisable figure — is shouldered with the burden of not only racing against and beating proven doping cheats, but also bringing a much-needed ray of sunshine to the track.
Can the pressure ever have been higher on the Jamaican showman to perform? To go out and execute his race well enough to ensure gold, enabling him and the IAAF to snub their noses at the doping scourge that has cast a thick cloud over athletics ahead of the August 22-30 World Championships.
And, as if track and field’s governing body had penned the script itself, where better for Bolt to perform than at the very venue where he made his name. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you my friend. We will be meeting soon #Beijing2015,” Bolt recently tweeted alongside a photo of the Chinese capital’s iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium.
It was there during the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a 21-year-old that Bolt kicked off his sparkling career, blasting to a memorable double gold in the 100 and 200m before anchoring the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to glory. Since then, Bolt has gone on to win every Olympic and world sprint and relay title on offer.
Nothing i can do about doping, says Usain:
Olympic and world sprint champion Usain Bolt has been saddened by the focus on doping in the run-up to the world championships but said it was up to all clean athletes, not just him, to save the sport. The governing International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has spent the three weeks leading up to its showpiece event defending its record on doping after a string of embarrassing leaks.
“It’s really taken centrestage,” the Jamaican told a news conference on Thursday. “All I’ve been hearing is doping, doping, doping, all the questions have been about doping.
“It’s sad that it’s been at the forefront for the World Championships and not the competition. “There’s nothing I can do about it though.”
In the midst of the doping crisis, the sprint showdown between Bolt, who has never failed a drugs test, and in-form American Justin Gatlin, who has served two suspensions for using banned substances, has been billed as a battle for the soul of the sport.
Gatlin’s second positive test, in 2006, would normally have earned him a lifetime ban but after he agreed to co-operate with the anti-doping authorities that was cut to eight, and then four years.
Bolt, who turns 29 on Friday, rejected the idea that, as the sport’s biggest star, it was his responsibility to save it. “I can’t do it by myself, it’s a responsibility of all the athletes to take it upon themselves to save the sport,” he said.
( Source : afp/reuters )
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