London 2012 Olympics: Usain Bolt faces ‘big challenge’, says Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis, the former Olympic gold medallist, says that Usain Bolt faces a “big challenge” in London 2012 when the Jamaican sets about defending his two Olympic sprint titles.
By Telegraph staff 12:12PM GMT 09 Nov 2010
The Jamaican produced one of the most memorable performances of any Olympiad when he blitzed to 100 metres gold at the Beijing Games two years’ ago, recording a world record 9.69 secs in the process.
The 24 year-old then lowered Michael Johnson’s 19.32 secs mark in the 200m final by 0.02 secs.
However, Lewis, who won gold in the 100m at the 1984 and 1988 Games, told the Metro newspaper: "You know what? The Olympics is two years away and it is amazing what can happen in that time.
[b]"It’s a big challenge. I am the only one who has ever been able to double up and win 100m gold at successive Olympics and I can tell you it’s a hard thing to do.
“It’s very difficult to come back and win for a second time because there’s a lot of people out there who want to beat you.” [/b]
Lewis, 49, also believed that Bolt’s world record - he lowered his mark to 9.58secs at last year’s World Championships in Rome - will duck below the nine-second barrier in the future.
He added: “We will be long gone by then but it is always going to be reduced because people always want to beat the best.”
Meanwhile, Bolt won one of the top honours at the 29th annual Commonwealth Sports Awards in Birmingham at the weekend, despite opting out of the recent Games in Delhi.
Bolt walked away with the Outstanding Male Athlete accolade while British heptathlete Jessica Ennis, the current World and European champion, picked up the Outstanding Female Athlete award.