Usain Bolt proved once again that no one can come close to him in the 200 metres as he claimed his sixth global title in the event yesterday, but then said that he may retire next year because he is not enjoying competing as much.
Bolt, 29, had originally said that he would retire after the next world championships in London in 2017. But after claiming another sprint double in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Jamaican, who has been troubled by injury in the past two years, said that the Rio de Janeiro Olympics may be his swansong.
“I really want to run in London,” Bolt said. “But I think the sport is not as fun as it used to be. It’s more taxing. I can’t enjoy it as much as I want to, because I have to be sacrificing a lot more. So it’s 50-50.”
Segway bowls over champion
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No one can get close to Usain Bolt on the track, but the fastest man in the world was brought down to earth when he was flattened by a television cameraman on a Segway during his lap of honour (see video above).
The cameraman was behind Bolt when he ran into the camera track alongside the finishing straight. The Segway flipped up on to one wheel before veering sharply right, taking Bolt clean out. The cameraman fell flat on his back, with Bolt and the camera falling on top of him. The Jamaican was quickly to his feet and walked back to make sure the cameraman was not hurt. “There’s a rumour that Justin Gatlin paid him off,” Bolt joked. “But I’m all right.”
It was not the end of the drama on Bolt’s lap of honour. A fan who jumped over the barriers to get a picture was chased by security guards. Then another security guard tried to walk off with Bolt’s spikes. “I gave one of the guys who was following me my spikes to hold when I started to do my interviews and when I turned round he was gone,” Bolt said. “So I was shouting, ‘Bring my spikes back’.”
Bolt has said that he is finding competing much harder. He had been treated for problems arising from scoliosis since he was a teenager, but as he has got older, he has not been so keen on a lifestyle of ice baths, strict dieting and early nights. He says that the final decision about whether he will run in 2017 could come down to Glen Mills, his long-time coach.
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“My sponsors want me to go one more year,” Bolt said. “But my coach said, ‘Listen if you’re not going to be serious about going to the world championships in London, you shouldn’t do it.’ It’s all about how I feel after Rio, if I feel I can really put my body through one more year and if I’m going to be focused enough and determined if I compete after Rio.”
This had been keenly awaited as the rematch with Justin Gatlin, whom Bolt edged out on the line in the 100 metres final on Sunday, but this time Gatlin did not get a look-in.
The American started well, but Bolt had his measure by the time he had come into the straight and he sailed clear to win in 19.55sec, the tenth-fastest 200 metres of all time and Bolt’s fastest since the London Olympics. Gatlin was second in 19.74, with Anaso Jobodwana, of South Africa, third in 19.87.
“I think the race was going to be decided by who got to 150 first, so I knew I had to run hard,” Bolt said. “I have never come round the corner in second, so I knew I had to run because Justin could see me. So I wanted to run the turn first and run as fast as I could to 150 and then maybe just hold my form and get home.”
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The top ten
Usain Bolt’s performance was the tenth-fastest 200 metres of all time. He has five of the top ten
1 19.19sec Bolt, Berlin, 2009
2 19.26 Yohan Blake, Brussels, 2011
3 19.30 Bolt, Beijing 2008
4= 19.32 Michael Johnson, Atlanta, 1996
4= 19.32 Bolt, London, 2012
6 19.40 Bolt, Daegu, 2011
7 19.44 Blake, London, 2012
8 19.53 Walter Dix, Brussels, 2011
9 19.54 Blake, Brussels, 2012
10 19.55 Bolt, Beijing, 2015
Compiled by Ron Lewis
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While Bolt’s record in the 100 metres at global events is slightly blemished by his false start before the world championships final in Daegu in 2011, his 200 metres record has been spotless since he won his first Olympic gold medal in this same stadium in 2008. This was his fourth 200 metres world championships gold medal to go along with two Olympic golds. Of the past 12 global 100 and 200 metres titles, Bolt has won 11.
“There was a never a doubt that I was going to win this one,” Bolt said. “Justin Gatlin was there, ‘Oh, he is going to be ready [to beat Bolt]’. That is why I really celebrated as much as I did. I am No 1.”
Zharnel Hughes, who was in the lane between Bolt and Gatlin, finished fifth in 20.02. “I got a PB and made it to the world championship final, so what more can I ask for?” Hughes said. “It’s just that I wish I could have got a medal, but I guess it’s not my time just yet.
“It is my first world champs and I have many more to come. This one is like in school — sometimes you fail your exams and you study yourself and come back and better yourself. It’s a great experience and I’ll come back and better myself after going back to the drawing board.”
Christian Taylor secured the triple jump gold medal, achieving the second-longest leap in history. The American had seemed booked for second place behind Pedro Pablo Pichardo, of Cuba, until Taylor, the Olympic champion, landed his monster jump in the final round, which was only 8cm off the 20-year-old world record of Jonathan Edwards.