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Thundering Bolt eyes triple-triple

Jamaican is the cynosure as athletics programme begins; Fraser-Pryce targets third gold
Last Updated 11 August 2016, 19:47 IST

He can groove with the Samba dancers and put a smile on the face of a worried world. The burden of history sits lightly on the shoulders of Usain St Leo Bolt but even the emperor of track and field has to put his challengers in place, show who lays down the law.

For the rangy Jamaican, that time begins when the athletics programme of the Olympic Games rolls out on Friday. Rocked by doping issues and the much-debated Russian expulsion, athletics desperately needs to prove itself as the number one sport in the Olympic programme. As has been the case in recent times, Bolt holds out the ray of hope for the troubled sport.

Since he made that stunning breakthrough at the 2008 Beijing Games, Bolt has emerged as the lone truly global superstar of the sport and he arrives in Rio with a new mission – bow out of the Olympic stage on a high with an unprecedented triple-triple of 100, 200 and 4x100 gold medals.

There is a clutch of exciting young talent waiting to storm the centre stage at the Olympic Stadium but Bolt’s triple quest, his rivalry with his American rival Justin Gatlin and his great desire to duck under 19 seconds in the 200M will be the main theme over the next ten days.

A hamstring injury to the big man at the Jamaican trials had raised concerns worldwide but the 29-year-old has allayed those fears, stating firmly that he will be ready to defend his territory. “I’ll win all three gold, there’s never anything else for me when it comes to a championship,” Bolt told CNN the other day.

His best time this year in the 100M, a 9.88 seconds, only puts him fourth on the world lists but Bolt is never judged by his place on the statistical charts. He is a championship performer and that gives him the advantage over the likes of Gatlin. The proof of it came at the World Championships in Beijing last year when he edged out the American in what was billed as the ‘Good vs Evil’ race, given Gatlin’s doping past.

Like Bolt, his compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is also chasing history in the women’s 100M, attempting to become the first to win three gold medals in the event. A toe injury has set her back this year but the pocket rocket raises the bar in big meets, a worrisome factor for her rivals, season’s leader Elaine Thompson (10.70 seconds) of Jamaica, English Gardner of the United States and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. Schippers, though, would be the one to beat in the 200M, another contest that will send the pulse racing.
Mo Farah’s bid for a double-double in distance events and a 400M contest that promises to be a thriller could be the other highlights in Rio. Farah has been on an irresistible run, winning double titles at 2013 and 2015 World Championships besides his London 2012 heroics. Ethiopians and Kenyans will be out to thwart him, but that would take some doing.

At the Beijing Worlds, Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, Ame­rican LaShawn Merritt and Grenadian Kirani James set the track ablaze in the 400M. Three runners went under 44 seconds in a 400M race for the first time and when they clash again, sparks could fly on the blue track at the Olympic Stadium.

Caster Semenya’s presence brings an element of intrigue to the women’s 800M. Unbeaten in eight races this year, the controversial South African is a certainty to win the two-lap race, having run a 1:55.33 this season. The London silver medallist, who was embroiled in a gender row, will raise more eyebrows though.

Allyson Felix, whose bold double bid fell through at the US trials, has only the 400M race in the individual programme. The defending 200M champion has a 49.68 in the one-lap race but gold is no guarantee for the American, with Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller (49.55 this season) poised to strike.

Ethiopians Almaz Ayana and Tirunesh Dibaba should serve up a treat in the women’s 10000M while the former has designs for a double, as she lines up in the 5000M as well. Record bids would also corner attention in the women’s shot put, where Valerie Adams eyes a third straight gold medal, and in the men’s triple jump, with Christian Taylor eager to overtake Jonathan Edwards’ long-standing mark of 18.29 metres.

“I have my eye on the world record. I’ve surpassed the 18M mark, but I am still centimetres short. My hunger, fire and passion are all the same,” he said on Wednesday, clearly echoing the sentiments of the leader of his sport. Yes, despite several subplots in track and field, the Bolt story will certainly be the cynosure, win or lose.

 

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(Published 11 August 2016, 19:47 IST)

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