KINGSTON, Jamaica, Feb 12, 2009 (AFP) - Beijing Olympic triple gold medalist Usain Bolt will begin his 2009 season here Saturday by running the 400 meters at the Camperdown Track and Field Classic to assess his fitness level.
Bolt set world records in winning the 100m gold in 9.69 seconds and the 200m title in 19.30 and then helped Jamaica to 4x100m relay gold. He is looking at his one-lap race at National Stadium as part of his training regimen.
It's pretty much training,'' Bolt said. I am just going there to run and feel where I am in my programme. It’s not about achieving anything special.
It will tell what shape I am in and what I really need to do to get into the shape I want to be in.'' Since his Beijing heroics, Bolt has travelled around the world and said he thinks that has contributed slightly to his unawareness of his current form. I am still trying to get into shape because I started training a little bit late, because I have been up and down,’’ Bolt said. So I am not in the best of shape right now, but I am getting there.'' Bolt said that while he is still doing background training’’ with coach Glen Mills he is not concerned about being prepared for August’s World Championships in Berlin or other major global meets later this season.
``No, I am not worried, but we are working on it. We have time to get it right,’’ he said.
Bolt, who last year opened two weeks earlier with a 46.94sec 400m at the Queens/Grace Jackson Invitational, said he plans another 400m run this month. His personal best at the distance is 45.28sec.
Mills has said that Bolt will take on the 400m with an eye to breaking American Michael Johnson’s world record of 43.19sec in 2010.
Results? I am curious!
Bolt wins 400 meters at Jamaica Camperdown Classic
By ANTHONY FOSTER
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — In his first race this year, Olympic star Usain Bolt won the 400 meters in 46.35 seconds Saturday at the Jamaica Camperdown Classic.
He slowed in the last 50 meters, smiling while looking right and left in winning this event for the second straight year. Bolt refrained from his famed celebratory dance at the finish. Instead, he was greeted by his masseuse for a rubdown.
“The first 300 meters of the race was good, but the last 100 meters need some work,” Bolt said. “I am not really in the best of shape, but I’m happy I got through it.”
Bolt led a Jamaican sweep, with Yohan Blake second in 46.88 and Ricardo Chambers third in 46.98. The meet at Stadium East drew more than 2,000 international athletes.
Bolt won the 400 in 45.92 and set a personal best of 45.35 in 2003. Michael Johnson holds the world record of 43.18, set in 1999.
Usain broke two world records at the Beijing Games in winning the 100 meters in 9.69 seconds and the 200 in 19.30. He also helped Jamaica win the gold in the 400 relay.
Bolt won Sportsman of the Year 2008 for Jamaica on Friday. He also took the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year award and Jamaica’s Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year.