Bolt aiming for 9.5s

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 17:12:00 2009

Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, has said he can run the 100 metres in 9.5 seconds - if he can get back into his gold medal-winning Beijing Olympics form.

ATHLETICS 2009 BOLT - 0

The Jamaican, 22, also said he had no fear of the in-form Tyson Gay - and if the US sprinter breaks his 9.69-second world record, he will break it back.

Bolt, in Britain as the European athletics season gets into full swing, insisted he had yet to reach his peak.

"With a lot of work I think I probably can go a little bit faster with hard work and dedication. That is the key for getting there. I'm working on it," Bolt said on a visit to a South London sports school.

"I was thinking 9.5 maybe but I've got a lot of work to do to get back to the shape I was in.

"I'm not in the best shape right now but I'm working, slowly but surely. I still have a lot of work to do.

"For me it's always about the World Championships. The fast times will come if I work hard and train really hard, so I'm not really worried about that."

Bolt suffered minor leg injuries in a car crash in April, but he recovered quickly following minor surgery and is now focused on the biennial World Championships, which take place in Berlin on August 15-23.

Both Gay - owner of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay world titles - and Bolt - who sensationally captured the same treble at the Beijing Games last August - secured their World Championships berths in their national trials at the weekend.

In New York in May, the American ran the 200m in 19.58s, the third-fastest time in history, laying down his intentions for taking on Bolt. The Jamaican won the Beijing gold in a world record 19.30sec.

However, the man nicknamed 'Lightning' Bolt is not worried about Gay's challenge to his records.

"I have no problem. Everybody wants to be a world record holder. If he breaks it, it's part of the game for me. I'll work to break it back. It's all fun and games," the triple Olympic gold medallist said.

"I've no fear. I have no fear of any athlete I go against. I compete at my best at all times. I don't worry."

And he insisted that there was plenty more to come from the fastest man on earth.

"I'm not at my peak, I have a little more left in the tank, I have a bit more to go," he said. "I'm still trying to get everything together to get that perfect race."

Bolt also hinted that he may compete in the 400m in future.

"I think maybe next year I may try it, I think I can maybe run 44s," he said.

AFP

Comment 1 - 5 of 5

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  1. It is easy to look at Usain Bolt's height and­ physique and understand why he is so fast, and to some­ extent Asafa Powell as well, but much less so with­ Tyson Gay. I have been quite surprised at the times­ Tyson Gay has been running, I guess he has good cadence­ and a rare combination of a high knee lift and a high­ backlift that results in a long stride length. Tyson­ also is very strong and runs hard all the time.

    To be­ honest if Usain Bolt arrives at the world championships­ in good shape I'm sure he will win both the 100m­ and 200m. Last year he was running 9.85 and 19.7­ without really trying that hard.

    He ran 9.69 in the­ Beijing final without moving his arms for the last 7­ strides of the race! When he really pushed it he ran­ 19.30 in the 200m after all the 100m and 200m rounds­ and lets not forget into a headwind as well!

    With his­ confidence, increasing physical maturity and improved­ competition he will probably run even faster in both­ events. At his best - no one can compete with him

    From rayackwerh, on Sat 4 Jul 8:10AM

  2. what the hell do you really know about Jamaicans,­ ahmati fool.? give us some credit for our success and­ stop grudging us for it. you can't stand to see­ your American athletes get their @#$% whip by a little­ country like Jamaica, obviously. if it wasn't for­ the so called "VITAMINS" that many of your­ athletes were taking, Jamaica and other countries would­ have kicked USA butts many times in the past. we are­ proud people who uses talent to get the job done.

    From wayne p, on Fri 3 Jul 5:54PM

  3. 100m Bolt will win, 200m it will be Tyson gay at the­ world championships.
    I am so glad that Jamaica is able­ to support its athletes and they don't have to go­ to US, UK or Canada before they can become great­ athletes. Now they got a hold of the correct formula­ for training,­ work+dedication+work+vitaminssssssssss(just­ kidding................not!!!!). Hopefully Jamaicans­ don't get caught. Because i could care less about­ Jamaica though i do care about Athletics and if they­ get caught we all are f.....!!!!

    From Arben, on Fri 3 Jul 4:42PM

  4. 400m would be interesting if bolt is serious about it­ he can take the record to 43.00.or under by a touch coz­ u know 21sec 200m to him is a jog if he adapts his­ training a bit he could do that twice at around 21­ first 200 and 22 second

    From james g, on Fri 3 Jul 2:29PM

  5. nobody does it better than the jamaican, and we all­ know it

    From kevwyn2001, on Thu 2 Jul 10:19PM
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