Usian Bolt And Justin Gatlin's Post Race Banter

I guess all the trash talk leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games by and between the world's fastest man Usain Bolt and American sprinter Justin Gatlin came to close on Sunday. Shortly after Usain Bolt retained his Olympic Games100m title, he could not avoid being asked about his rival American Justin Gatlin - who he said has spoken out of turn this year. It was a response many Americans, including Galtin himself, would have wanted Bolt to regret after they raced yesterday.

Gatlin, who just over a year again returned from a four-year drugs ban, weeks ago said he was ready to take down Bolt in London - a comment the world record holder rightly replied to by saying "I think Gatlin has a few guys he needs to get past before he worries about me."

On Sunday after the men's 100m final, before Bolt had time to make his trademark 'to the worl' signal, Gatling offered him congratulations, but it wasn't enough to save him from Bolt's later comments. "Justin has been saying a lot of things, I wanted to run with him from the semi-finals, I was praying (for it to happen), but it didn't," Bolt said, while hinting he wanted to beat him from then.

 "People can talk a lot of things, you can say anything you want, showing up and do what you got to do is a different thing, so for me it was all business," Bolt continued.

Bolt said Jamaican athletes again proved they rule the sprints. "This is always a competition against the Americans to see who the sprint champions are, to see who is number one"

"Shelly-Ann did great, no doubt my money was on her yesterday. We both defended our titles and showed the world Jamaica is a great sprinting country." Both Bolt and Fraser-Pryce won the 100m titles in Beijing, four years ago, and will see action later this as they attempt to qualify for the 200m.

Usain Bolt Scores Gold For Jamaica's Golden Anniversary

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt sealed his status as the greatest sprinter of all time after retaining the men’s Olympic 100m title with an electrifying display on Sunday.

The world record holder turned on the after-burners at 60m to clock an Olympic record of 9.63sec, the second fastest time in history.

Bolt banished the doubts that had surrounded him in the build-up to the Olympics after he was beaten by training partner Yohan Blake in the Jamaican trials, but the young pretender was left trailing two meters behind.

“I executed and that was the key,” Bolt said. “When it comes to the championships, it’s all about business for me and I brought it.

“I feel extremely good and I’m happy.” Blake, long tipped as Bolt’s successor as the fastest man in the world, claimed silver after equalling his personal best of 9.75sec.

“Usain has been to this level and he knows what it takes, he’s a world beater and he’s the fastest man in the world,” said Blake, who sent Bolt into hiding after beating him in the 100 and 200m at the Jamaican trials.

Blake added: “I have to give a lot of thanks, it’s my first Olympics and I get a silver medal. What more can I ask for? To be the second fastest man in the world behind Bolt is an honor.”

American 2004 Olympic gold medallist Justin Gatlin completed his remarkable comeback from a four-year doping ban by taking the bronze medal in a personal best of 9.79sec. The 2007 double world champion Tyson Gay came in fourth, one hundredth of a second off his teammate Gatlin in 9.80sec, with a third American, Ryan Bailey, fifth in 9.88.

The sold-out 80,000-capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium were on their feet when the eight finalists, including the four fastest men in the world – Bolt, Gay, Blake and Asafa Powell – lined up.

As the television cameras picked out each racer, the excitement mounted as they reached Bolt in lane seven, dressed in black shorts and the yellow and green singlet of the Jamaican team.

The 25-year-old showed no signs of nerves as he bid to replicate his gold medal showing in the Beijing Games in 2008. To mass delight, he practiced his DJ mixing skills, one hand raised to his ear, and then drew laughter after drawing pretend pistols and registering them after pointing them down the track.

As the starter called them to the blocks, Bolt put a finger to his lips to hush the excitable crowd, briefly crossing himself and looking the sky as the cameras zoomed in.   Bolt seemed his old self shuffling on the starting blocks.  

But as the silence descended on the stadium, the gun went and Bolt’s reaction time from the blocks saw him rocket away, but Gatlin had the edge on his left. Bolt, however, pushed his huge frame through his renowned drive and transition phase after 50 metres.

Teeth gritted and long legs pumping, Bolt completed what turned out to be a remarkably comfortable victory given the quality and strength of the field.  After Bolt crossed the line, he immediately set off on a lap of victory, a Jamaican flag draped over his shoulders and Blake in tow.  He stopped to perform his customary “bow and arrow” pose at various points, to chants of “Usain, Usain!” ringing around the stadium.

Bolt revealed afterwards that his false start in last year’s world had been worrying him before the race, but his coach Glen Mills put set things straight for him.  “My coach told me ‘stop worrying about the start, the best part of your race is at the end,” he said.

Bolt’s teammate and former world record holder Powell was left in a crumpled heap after pulling up and crossing the line in 11.99sec. The two other finalists, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands and Trinidadian Richard Thompson, crossed the line in sixth and seventh in 9.94sec and 9.98sec respectively.

It was a remarkable result for Bolt, who revolutionized sprinting, and indeed athletics, four years ago in Beijing, setting then-world records when winning the 100 and 200m titles, and also starring in a record-breaking Jamaican quartet in the 4x100m relay.

He left the Chinese capital as one of the most recognizable figures in world sport, unbelievably going on to beat both his individual sprint marks with new times of 9.58sec and 19.19sec in the Berlin worlds in 2009.

Bolt lost his world 100m title in Daegu last July to Blake after sensationally false-starting in the final, but has fired back in most emphatic fashion.

Ready Set Start: Usain Bolt's Legs Are Ready

A laid back Usain Bolt has decided the best way to improve his not-so-perfect start is not to worry about it, the Jamaican world record holder said on Thursday. "The more I focused on it, I think the worse it got," Bolt told Reuters in an interview following a packed news conference.

Starting has never been a work of art for Bolt as he struggled to squeeze his long legs into the blocks and then tries to get them moving at full stride but the woes have increased in the past 12 months. First there was the false start in the final of last year's world championship 100 meters that ended his chances of defending his title in South Korea.

Then a month ago at the Jamaican Olympic trials, a sluggish Bolt lost the 100 and 200 to world sprint champion and training partner Yohan Blake, as in the shorter race he was way off the pace over the opening strides.

"So I sat down with my coach," Bolt said in an interview arranged by his kit sponsor Puma. "He said stop worrying about the start and compete. So that is the plan (in London). Forget the start and get it (the race) right."

A strained hamstring that slowed him at the Jamaican trials has healed, and the world's top sprinter says he is now in championship mode with no major thought of trying to better his 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100 meters.

Usain Bolt Coming to a Broadand Near You

Despite recent injuries, Dawes is confident world record holder Bolt will be in peak condition as he attempts to retain both individual titles and help Jamaica keep their 4 x 100m crown. "He's back fully," Dawes said. "He has been training very, very hard and his performance is on track."We expect he'll be fully fit by the time the Olympics come around." Dawes believes Bolt and sprint rival Yohan Blake could reach new heights in London for the Jamaican team. "Both of them are at the top of their game. "If the conditions are ideal, then we are going to see something fantastic. We may see records go. "They are 100% fit and 100% raring to go. They are mentally fit and they are going to be going all out." First up for Bolt will be the men's 100m's on 4 August in the Olympic Stadium, with his defense of the 200m title starting three days later on 7 August. The men's 4 x 100m Relay starts on 10 August.

Yohan Blake To Race At Spritzen Leichtathletik Meet Before Olympics

Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake will compete in Switzerland next week in his first race since beating Usain Bolt over 100m and 200m in national Olympic trials. Organizers of the Spitzen Leichtathletik meet in Lucerne said Blake will run in the 100 next Tuesday.
"It's his first run after the trials and perhaps his only run before the Olympics," meeting director Terry McHugh told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Blake, the 100 world champion, clocked a personal best and world's season-leading time of 9.75 seconds to beat Olympic champion Bolt in Kingston last month. He also ran a world-leading 19.80 to win the 200.
Blake is scheduled to open his London Olympics in the 100 heats on Aug. 4.
For 26 years, Spitzen Leichtathletik has been renowned for being well organized without the pressure and intensity that accompanies a top-tier Diamond League meeting.
"An athlete needs to remain competitive but they don't need to face the world," McHugh said. "The meeting has a reputation for being a fast track. Most importantly, it suits their plan."
The 100 meet record is held by another Jamaican, Nesta Carter, who timed 9.86 in 2010.
Blake has pleasant memories of running in Switzerland.
Last September in Zurich, he made his first competitive appearance after becoming world champion in Daegu, South Korea.
Blake set a then-personal best of 9.82 to win the Diamond League final at the famed Weltklasse meet.