RIO DE JANEIRO — Usain Bolt made his first major appearance in Rio de Janeiro leading up to the Olympics, talking about his desire to break 19 seconds in the 200 meters.
Bolt takes to the track Saturday for opening rounds of the 100 meters. He is trying to take his total to nine gold medals over three Olympics. Bolt turns 30 on the night of the closing ceremony and, at Monday’s news conference, he reiterated that Rio will, in fact, be his last Games.
Bolt said lowering his 200-meter record, which stands at 19.19 seconds, below the 19 mark, is something he wants.
He said training is going well despite his tender hamstring.
Bolt believes he will retire from track and field with the scandal-tainted sport heading in the right direction.
“This is the last one for sure,” Bolt said at a press conference when asked if he may yet extend his remarkable career.
“I’ve done enough. I’ve proven myself over and over again, this is the last one.”
Track and field’s biggest star is preparing to retire from the sport as it battles with the fall-out from the Russian drugs scandal and corruption allegations against the former leadership of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Even so, Bolt believes athletics has turned the corner.
“For me I think we’re going in the right direction, I must say,” Bolt said.
“We’re weeding out the bad ones. I personally think we’re on the right track. We have to go through the rough time to get to the good times. And in a few years’ time the sport will be cleaner and everything will be great. I look forward to that.”
Although the Russian doping scandal exposed the sophisticated lengths that drug cheats were prepared to go to avoid detection, Bolt said he was unconcerned about the possibility that he might be lining up against rivals in Rio who aren’t clean.
“In life nothing is guaranteed. But for me going out there, I never worry about it,” he said.
“That’s WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and IAAF and IOC (International Olympic Committee) — these are the guys that worry about that stuff,” Bolt said.
“For me I go out there to compete and wow the crowd and entertain. I just want to compete.
“I personally feel the sport is going in the right direction and in a few years it’s going to be fine. I don’t worry about that.”
Bolt is set to face another duel against two-time convicted doping offender Justin Gatlin in both the 100m and the 200m in Rio.
Gatlin, owner of the fastest time in the world this year (9.80 sec), could be the biggest threat to Bolt’s hopes of defending all three of his crowns.
