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'My 100 metres record looks pretty much out of reach now'

Last Updated 02 September 2014, 20:23 IST

Five years ago, Usain Bolt raised the bar in men’s sprints to a level that has remained unattainable since. Gold and more gold have followed the giant Jamaican during the period in which he has become a truly global star.

In Bangalore to launch a new campaign for his sponsor Puma, Bolt said his 100M record may well stay out of reach of his rivals but felt he could challenge his 200 record.

Excerpts from his media interaction:

On his 100M world record of 9.58 seconds: The 100M record looks pretty much out of reach. As an athlete, I have seen records come and go. They have always been broken, but if you want to be as great as me, you have to work very hard. That's why my records will stand for a while.

On which of his records could be challenged in the near future: I think there is room for improvement in the 200. It is very technical, but possible. I have always wanted to run a sub-19. If I keep chasing the 200 record, I am sure, it will help me in the 100 as well.

On his rivals: Track and field is a weird sport. It's all about focus and mental capacity. It's hard to pick any one person, but my coach thinks Justin Gatlin is good. Then there are Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake...so many guys are coming up. But I am not going to let anybody beat me!

On choosing cricket over athletics: My father is a huge cricket fan. We had two televisions at home, and one was in my room. When there were matches in India, it used to be night time in Jamaica. So in order not to disturb my mom, he would come to my room and watch TV.

That is how I got hooked onto cricket. But when I got to higher secondary, I had two options -- cricket or athletics. My dad said because of the system in Jamaica, it would be better to take up athletics. He said, you just have to run fast in athletics to get into the National team as it was an individual sport while it was tougher to get into the national cricket team. So blame it on my dad!

On his idol: (NBA player) Kevin Garnett was my idol – the person I was looking up to when I was growing up. I wanted to achieve in my field what he had in his game.

On India and athletics:  It is all about what people want to watch. Here in India, people want to watch cricket more and you are a cricketing nation. When I was growing up, everybody wanted to play cricket all the time in Jamaica. Now they want to run as well. We have to make the sport attractive to the younger generation. In Jamaica, we have the Champs contest which draws huge number of children and keeps the interest alive.

On his future after the 2016 Rio Olympics: I will compete in one more season after the Rio Olympics.

I have always said I wanted to play football. I might do that, let’s see.

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(Published 02 September 2014, 20:23 IST)

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