News02 Jun 2008


Bolt: "I still think the 200m is my best race"

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Usain Bolt with his World record clock in New York (© Victah Sailer)

New York, USALast Thursday, Usain Bolt explained to the New York press that despite running 9.76 for 100m earlier in the season in Jamaica, he wasn't sure he'd run the 100m in the Jamaican Olympic Trials.

"We're doing the 100m for speed work, really," said the 200m World Championships silver medalist, who won his first global junior title in the longer event at age 15, and holds the World junior and Jamaican national records in that event at 19.93 and 19.75 respectively. "My coach told me we'd be doing more 100s this season, but not to get my hopes up about running it in the Olympics."

Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, could be forgiven for keeping a tight rein on his young charge's ambitions. After all, Bolt, who will likely celebrate his 22nd birthday in Beijing, the day after the 200m final, would have been facing the then-World record holder, Asafa Powell, just in the Jamaican trials, not to mention the Olympic final.

Everything changed late on Saturday evening (31) when Bolt, whose nickname has been "Lightning" since his World Junior days, got a stride ahead of current World Champion Tyson Gay at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, and streaked down the track to a new World record of 9.72*. "I think that will change today," said Bolt of his prospective Olympic program after the New York meet. "I think I'll be doubling."

Working on his start

It was developing sound fundamentals for Bolt's 200m which led him to the 100m record. "It's been about my reaction time," Bolt said on Thursday. "We've been working on listening for the gun, being aware of the gun, with handclaps and things like that. After that, it's about my first step, and then my second step, and so on." On Saturday, Bolt reiterated the course which led him to the record. "I give a lot of thanks to my coach. My start was terrible, and he's done a lot for me."

The practice paid off in New York. First there was a false start, which both Bolt and Gay called a gift afterwards, both claiming their first starts had been poor. "I thought his first start was better than mine," Gay said after the race. "I heard a lot of guys oohing and ahhing because they had good starts but got called back."

The second start was the one which paid off for Bolt. "I knew if I could beat Tyson out of the blocks, I had a good chance of winning, because Tyson's good out of the blocks. Then I just did what my coach said, concentrated on my transition and my drive phase." Gay had said as much on Thursday, explaining how he looked at the race: "If I get out of the blocks first ... I'm not usually the one being chased. If he gets out first, or if we get out together, it'll be a great race."

Over by 50m

Gay, who now found himself in the unusual position of watching the race from behind, knew as well as Bolt did that their race was over after 50m. "I honestly think we were on the same rhythm, but his stride pattern was longer, and he was covering more ground [than Gay was] with every stride."

Both sprinters acknowledged that the conditions at Icahn Stadium, built on the same Randall's Island where Leroy Burrell ran a 9.90 World record in 1991 (in Downing Stadium), were not what sprinters usually consider optimal for a record. An earlier thunderstorm had not only disrupted the meet schedule, pushing the 100m start time past 11 PM, but left the air cool and the track wet. The fitful wind blew strongly while the sprinters were in the blocks, but calmed to a 1.7 m/s tailwind for race time. But Gay and Bolt asserted that conditions are partly a mind game. "The rain didn't bother me, obviously it didn't bother him," said Gay. "The track was a little wet, but that didn't stop anybody from running fast."

Asked if he might have run faster on a dry track, Bolt said, "I don't know. When you worry about conditions, it messes you up. In Helsinki [at the 2005 World Championships], I hated running in cold weather, and it messed me up. I told myself after that, you can't let the conditions mess you up. I'm trying to condition my mind to run well if it's windy or cold or whatever."

Primarily a 200m runner

Despite this smashing success in the 100m, Bolt still sees himself primarily as a 200m runner. "I've been doing the 200m for six years," he explained on Saturday. "I've been working hard on that race for a long time. I think I can be the best there, too."

Bolt thinks the combination of his improved start and his sharpened speed will lead to better 200m performances this year, but he is cautious about predicting times. "I don't try to guess what I'll run until after my first race" of the season, he explained. His first 200m for 2008 will come on 12 June in Ostrava. "I'm looking forward to running my first 200. I think the 200 is my best race. But I'm not worried about breaking the record."

Bolt explained how he's learned from Mills to chase titles and let the records take care of themselves. "Coach Mills has taught me, the main thing is to become an Olympic gold medalist. 100m, 200m, it doesn't matter to me as long as I have a gold medal around my neck. I'm not worried about time any more."

"My coach always tells me, if you're going to get a World record, it will come to you. I'm not worried about time right now. I don't need to break [the 100m record] again; it's mine. Maybe if somebody breaks it. You can have the World record, but if you don't have the gold medal in the Olympics or the World Championships, it means nothing. To me, a gold medal is more important. If you win the Olympic gold medal, somebody's got to wait four years to beat you. If you have the World record, somebody can take it from you at any time."

Next steps for Bolt

Other than the 200m in Ostrava, the only other definite event on Bolt's schedule is the Jamaican Olympic team trials, to be held in Kingston 27-29 June. This event, at least, assures that Bolt will meet the previous World record holder, Asafa Powell, before his mark is a month old. "I guess a lot of people are looking forward to that race," Bolt noted, but went on to say, "It won't be a showdown, we're just trying to make the Olympic team."

Any other schedule Bolt had previously established is now undoubtedly in chaos. Gay, scheduled to face Powell in London in July, professed no knowledge of Bolt's plans. "I don't even know if he's going to run any more."

What next in the 100m?

Gay remains a top contender to take the record from Bolt. Asked if he thought he could run 9.72, he replied, "I think I can. When you run under 9.8, your body tunes in to the speed. He'd run 9.7 before, so his body knew what it felt like." Gay ran 9.76 on the same track in 2007, but it was wind-aided.

Asked, on Thursday, how far he thought the 100m record might fall, Gay got a faraway look in his eyes. "9.79?" he said. "9.77? 9.74?" The questioners laughed, but Gay turned serious. "I don't know. I don't think there are limits."

More important, as Bolt said, are the Olympic medals, and now Bolt is a threat to win either 100m or 200m--or both.

Parker Morse for the IAAF

* subject to the usual ratification procedures

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