... Record holder hints at 400m
published:
Friday | August 22, 2008
Jamaica's gold medal winner Usain Bolt during the medal ceremony for the men's 200 metres in Beijing on Thursday.
DOUBLE OLYMPIC gold medallist and world 100 and 200 metres record holder, Usain Bolt, hinted on Wednesday that he could attack the 400m record sometime in the future.
Bolt, who could end the Beijing Games with a sensational three world records and three gold medals when he runs in today's sprint relay, said he could decide after next year's World Championships in Munich, Germany.
"I will not go up to the 400m any time soon," Bolt said after clocking a stunning 19.30 seconds to clip two-hundredths of a second off American Michael Johnson's previous mark of 19.32, and win gold in Beijing's 'Bird's Nest' stadium on Wednesday night.
"My aim just now is to finish the season injury-free and then look forward to next year's World Championships. Then, after that, me and my coach will decide," Bolt said.
One-lap training
The Trelawny native, who could hardly find words to describe his joy after adding the 200m gold to the one he won in the 100m three days earlier, did reveal that his build-up to Beijing included background work for the one-lap event. This was intended to improve his strength.
"In the early part of the season, we did some 400m background training so I was pretty much fairly strong for the 200m," he said when asked how he remained so powerful after four rounds of the 100m and three rounds of the 200m in five days.
With the sprint double in the bag and Asafa Powell, the former 100m record holder well rested after completing the 100m on Sunday, Jamaica has the sprint quartet to beat the 37.40 mark the United States clocked way back in 1992.
Jamaica's national record for the 4x100m, set in the Osaka World Championships last year, is 37.89 seconds, putting the country number five on the all-time list behind the Americans, Canada (37.69), Great Britain (37.73) and France (37.79).
Bolt and Powell are expected to be joined by 100m finalist Michael Frater and Nesta Carter for the final of the 4x100m. Frater replaces an injured Marvin Anderson who started last year's race in Osaka.
