JOIN USUsain Bolt laughed off suggestions he may be ‘past it’ and said he is looking forward to defending his world titles at 100 and 200 metres in Moscow in August.
Bolt, who will run the 200M at the Bislett Games on Thursday, said he has his “eye on the prize” of the worlds and is not overly concerned after coming off a rare defeat in the 100M last Thursday.
Bolt lost by one-hundredth of a second to American sprinter Justin Gatlin in Rome, the Jamaican’s first significant international loss since the false-start disqualification at the worlds in South Korea in 2011. “I’ll just point something out. In ’08, I lost one race and I won the Olympics that year,” Bolt told a news conference.
“(The loss to Gatlin) doesn’t say much. All I’m concerned about really, is the championship. Running the runs, getting into shape, figuring out what I need to do to get to the championship.”
His dominance is also being questioned as rivals Gatlin, Tyson Gay of the US and Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake begin to look like they could threaten him this season.
Bolt respects them all.
“Never try and single out one person to see who’s the strongest, because in track and field people get injured all the time,” Bolt said. “If I focus on one person and they get injured, then what?”