BOLT…it’s one of my goals that I have had over the years to dip under 19 seconds
Having already achieved his legendary status, Usain Bolt could become an immortal if he achieves his goals of a third Olympic “triple triple” and lowering his 200m record, unbelievably, to under 19 seconds.
“I think that is a side note really because the aim is always to win the championship. But it’s one of my goals that I have had over the years to dip under 19 seconds,” said Bolt after collecting his sixth RJR National Sportsman of the Year award.
“So it would be great if I could accomplish that this season and if it’s in the Olympics, it would be greater,” said Bolt, who was dapperly dressed in his Brioni suit, the preferred choice of James Bond.
Bolt set the current 200m record of 19.19 seconds in 2009, shaving 0.11 off his own previous record of 19.30 from the previous year. Before Bolt, the record had been 19.32, set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Olympics.
UK Athletics’ Ed Warner has suggested world records should be reset to help achieve a “new era” of clean competition, claiming the integrity of athletics was “challenged as never before in 2015”.
But Bolt, who also owns the 100m record of 9.58 seconds since 2009 and the 4x100m relay record of 36.84 seconds, doesn’t believe that’s a good idea to reset the records.
“One thing you know you can’t change (is) history, that’s just a fact. No matter how you look at it or how you want to put it, you can’t change history,” said Bolt.
“People will always say a lot of things, but I don’t think that will ever happen because you can’t just get up and start from scratch. It’s what it is,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bolt, who won triple gold at the World Championships in Beijing, China, last August, apologised to his fans for causing anxiety leading up to the championship because he wasn’t in the best of form due to niggling injuries.
“Often you guys see me in the streets and said I can’t deal with it, I cannot deal with it, so I wanted to say sorry about that,” he noted.
He plans to make this year a stress-free one for his fans leading up to the Rio Olympics in Brazil.
“Just trying to stay focus and staying on top of things and make sure everything runs smoothly, pushing myself and also being aware of everything that is going on around and to me. That’s the key,” he explained.
