Usain Bolt rules out running 400m - for now

USAIN Bolt has ruled out running the 400 metres for the foreseeable future, as he prepares to launch his 2010 season in Daegu, South Korea on May 19.

Bolt, 23, set new world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and followed up that feat last year with three more gold medals and two more world records at the World Championships in Berlin.

Pressure has since grown for him to commit to running the 400m at the 2012 Olympics in London, but the easy-going Jamaican says one-off 300m exhibition races are all he's prepared to countenance for the time being.

"The 200 metres is as far as I'll go,'' he said during a conference call with journalists on Friday.

"The 300 is almost a sprint, but it's not that bad. The lactic acid starts to build up, but it's not that bad.''

Bolt's 100m rival Tyson Gay recently broke the 45-second mark in the 400m - Bolt's personal best is 45.28sec - but the sprint king said he would not be drawn into a duel at the distance.

"Congratulations to him, but it doesn't motivate me (to compete against him),'' said the triple Olympic champion.

Asked what put him off the event, Bolt replied: "The training. It's much harder than training for the 200m. I don't think I'm ready."

He did concede, however, that he could be persuaded into competing at the longer distance in the interests of establishing his legacy in athletics.

"I don't want to do 400 metres,'' he said. "People want me to do it, but I don't want to. If I have to do it, if that's what it takes for me to become a legend of the sport, I guess I'll have to do it. But I don't want to.

"The only event I think I'll try is the long jump,'' he said. "But at the end of my career, just before I retire.''

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Usain Blot the 149 gm shoes and Jochen Zeitz of Puma

Usain Bolt has the full support of Puma in a way no other athlete enjoys from a sponsor; with the help of Jochen Zeitz it was a win-win for the man and the brand.

The revolution at Puma has seen deals that should make other lifestyle brands sit up and take notice; when it comes to lifestyle and living in the fast lane explosive growth and speed go together perfectly ... over 100m and 200m.

Bolts possible race against the clock

Organisers and the world are likely to see another win for Puma athlete Usain Bolt; not because he is fast but because right now he is the only listed runner for the 100m at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on September 20th.

Of course the track will be filled up on the night with other runners; though many may ask why they are turning up to come 2nd or worse.

When one runner is so dominant it brings back memories of Ed Moses over the 400m hurdles who for years made every other athlete an "also ran" in the event.

Bolt may rest after Zurich event

Usain Bolt said he could call an early halt to his season after Friday's Golden League meeting in Zurich.

Bolt, who smashed his existing records in the 100m and 200m at the recent World Championships in Berlin, admitted to feeling tired from his exploits.

"I can't say I'm not tired. Hopefully I can tell after the race whether I can go for three more races," said Bolt.

Lisa Dobriskey, who claimed 1500m silver in Berlin, heads a small squad of British athletes in Zurich.

Dobriskey, who was elevated to second place after original winner Natalia Rodriguez was disqualified for pushing, will again meet most of the contestants from the Berlin final.

Bahrain's gold medallist Maryam Yusuf Jamal and Shannon Rowbury of the United States, who was third, also make an early return to action, while Dobriskey's fellow Briton Jemma Simpson, a semi-finalist in the 800m in Berlin, steps up in distance.

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Bolt roadshow continues at Zurich Golden League

The presence of Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt has guaranteed that the fifth of the six-leg Golden League on Friday will be a sell-out after his treble world gold medal haul.

The Letzigrund Stadium has long sold out its 26,000 tickets, largely based around an expectant crowd who will be treated to the stars of the recently-concluded World Athletic Championships in Berlin.

Bolt, who set new world records in the 100 and 200m (9.58 and 19.19 seconds), will not however be up against American Tyson Gay, who claimed silver in the worlds 100m but did not compete further after aggrevating a groin injury.

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Michael Johnson: Where does Usain Bolt go from here?

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is so much better than all the other 100m and 200m runners and at only 23 he is a world-record holder, world champion, and Olympic champion. So where does he go now?

Usually the World Championships held the year after an Olympics leaves much to be desired, but this was a great occasion, with world records, championship records, and some fine competitive races.

We knew last year that Usain Bolt could run much faster after he won the Olympic 100 metres gold, in Beijing, in 9.69 seconds after easing down 30m from the finish. But to see him cover 100m in 9.58sec, in Berlin, was unbelievable.

In the early rounds of the 200m the Jamaican said he was tired and looked it on his way to the final. It led many people to doubt he would break his world-record of 19.30 set in Beijing. But he did break the record again – running 19.19sec. Most impressive about his performance in the final was that I believe he really was tired: he appeared to start to fatigue at the end of the race, yet still managed to lower his world record.

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Bolt is much more than the world's greatest athlete

There is no question in my mind as to who the greatest athlete in the world is.

What Jamaica's Usain Bolt has done in the track-and-field world over the past two seasons, and to its venerable sprint and relay records, is nothing less than stunning.

Michael Phelps may rule the pool, and Tiger Woods the links, but both athletes would be hard pressed to match in the future what Bolt has done since early 2008, and will do into the next decade and beyond.

His dominance at the 100m distance has dropped the world record in the sprint from what is now a pedestrian 9.72 seconds to an unheard of, and unanticipated, 9.58.

Some 20 years ago, a university study noted, by their calculations, no one could, or would, run the 100m distance in less than 9.70 seconds because of the strain getting there would leave on the athlete, or athletes, who would even attempt it.

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Bolt dominates worlds with treble gold

Jamaica's Usain Bolt dominated the world athletics championships in Berlin in the same way he did the Beijing Olympics, winning triple gold and shattering the world records for the 100m and 200m.

Bolt, whose razzamatazz and light-heartedness have offered a much-needed breath of fresh air to the world of athletics, beat American defending champion and arch-rival Tyson Gay into second in the 100m, running an astonishing 9.58 seconds.

But any further duels between the sprinters were cut short when Gay was ruled out injured after winning silver in 9.71sec in the 100m.

"Winning three gold medals in Berlin is wonderful, I am proud of myself," said Bolt.

"It's been a great championships, I have got my two records so it doesn't matter if I don't get one," he said after his Jamaica 4x100m relay team failed to better the world record they set in Beijing.

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Beat Bolt? You must be nuts

USAIN BOLT is the fastest man on the planet - after smashing the 100m world record with a stunning 9.58secs run.

The Jamaican pulverised his previous world record of 9.69secs at the World Championships in Berlin on Sunday.

And the bad news for his weary track rivals is that the 23-year-old reckons he can go even faster. So will anyone ever beat Bolt?

To show just how impressive his triumph was, we challenged the public to have a bash at the 100m dash.

We turned Glasgow's George Square into a running track and grannies, goths, schoolkids, and even a rollerblader queued up for our 100m.

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Usain Bolt sets sights on 200m record after smashing 100m world best

Usain Bolt is already plotting his next assault on athletics lore here in Berlin's Olympiastadion as he promises to do everything in his unreal powers to rewrite his 200 metres world record in the same fashion he obliterated his 100 metres mark.

As athletics was still rubbing its eyes at the most startling revision ever of the blue riband world record, following Bolt's 9.58sec triumph at the world championships, the great man himself was trying to play down the prospect that the same fate could now befall his half-lap record in Thursday's final.

Bolt said that after slicing an unprecedented 0.11sec off the 100m time he had exactly a year earlier, he doubted that he could now come out and repeat the same world record double of Beijing by lowering his 200m mark of 19.30sec.

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