London: Sprint superstar Usain Bolt will seek a final golden hurrah when he takes to the track at the IAAF World Championships in London this week. Bolt has dominated sprinting since taking double individual gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He currently has eight Olympic golds and 11 World Championship titles. The 100m and 200m world records of 9.58s and 19.19s respectively created in 2009 still stand in his name.
It could have been better though had Jamaica not been stripped of the 4x100m relay gold in the 2008 Olympics because of Nesta Carter testing positive. A year earlier, Bolt had been disqualified for false start in the 100 metres.
“Yes definitely I want to go out on a high,” Bolt stated from his training pad here. “I want to retire on a winning note.
Bolt has opted not to defend his 200m world title, meaning he will not race against South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, the athlete the Jamaican has tipped to take over as the next track and field superstar. In fact Bolt has been the first to admit that the South African may hog more limelight than him at the London World. Van Niekerk is attempting the 200m and 400m glory, something which the legendary Michael Johnson achieved in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Bolt said that if he had an opponent like Van Niekerk during his entire career, he could have probably achieved more.
“That’s one of the most disappointing things in my career now,” Bolt said. “He (Van Niekerk) came along at this late stage and I didn’t get to compete against him, because I think he’s one of the best now… the next superstar after me.”
The two athletes are good friends and regularly train together in Jamaica. In June this year, he (Van Niekerk) ran personal bests in both the 100m (9.94 seconds) and 200m (19.84) and a world record 30.81 in the rarely run 300m. Van Niekerk is the only sprinter in history to have run the 100m in under 10 seconds, the 200m in under 20 and the 400m in sub 44 seconds.
World and Olympic 400m champion Van Niekerk, who will attempt an audacious 200-400m double here however, stated that he will have to go a long way before he can even be considered with Bolt in the same breath.
“Usain has been a massive inspiration. But I’ve still got quite a long way to go before I even get close to the heights that Usain has reached,” stated Van Niekerk.
Incidentally people will be surprised to know that Van Niekerk, according to his confessions doesn’t like running the 400m, the event which established as a star.
“I know I’ve got to be more positive about it,” Van Niekerk said recently. “That is why I am seeking the 200m-400m double. The challenge will help me do better in both the events,” he added.