Londonâs Independent newspaper
By Mike Rowbottom
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Usain Bolt, who produced a time of 9.76 seconds, the second fastest ever run, in only his third 100 metres race at the weekend, could meet the world champion Tyson Gay in New York at the end of this month.
The 21-year-old Jamaican, best known as a 200m runner, is still unsure whether he will compete over the shorter sprint at this summerâs Olympics despite clocking a time just 0.02sec outside the world record held by his compatriot Asafa Powell, who is expected to be out of action for a couple of months after pulling a chest muscle.
But Bolt, after his outstanding performance at the Jamaica International meeting in Kingston, is planning two more 100m races within the next month, the first in Trinidad on 18 May, the other scheduled for either of the Golden League meetings in Berlin on 1 June, Oslo on 6 June or for New York, where Gay is expected to run.
Gay clocked a wind-assisted 9.76sec in New York last year and has indicated that he wants to follow the same schedule as he did in his 2007 run-up to the 100 and 200 metres world titles. Bolt, who finished second to Gay in last yearâs world championship 200m, said he had spoken briefly to the American after they ran separate events in Jamaica. âHe told me congratulations,â Bolt said. âI told him I wanted to defeat him. Told him to watch out in the 200. I said I was definitely looking forward to a showdown.â
Bolt, whose previous 100m best was 10.03sec, said his performance in Kingston was unexpected, but steered clear of predicting he would break Powellâs record. âI am not worried about that right now,â he said. âI really donât know how fast I can run the 100.â
*Mo Farah produced the fastest 10,000m performance by a Briton for eight years on Sunday, finishing fifth in the Stanford Cardinal Invitation meeting. Farah, making his 10,000m debut, clocked 27min 44.54sec, last bettered by Karl Keskaâs 27:44.09sec for eighth place in the 2000 Olympic final.