Usain Bolt vows to blow people's imagination in next year's London Olympics after cruising to 200m gold in World Championships
Usain Bolt vows to blow people's imagination in next year's London Olympics after cruising to 200m gold in World Championships
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Jamaica's Usain Bolt exults after crossing the finish line to win gold in
the men's 200m final at the World Championships in Daegu. Pic/AFP
Bolt lost his 100m crown when he false-started in last Sunday's final, but the Jamaican star was not about to make the mistake twice. The 25-year-old lived up to his promise not to put a stop to his pre-race antics, even exchanging a "fist bump" with the young girl behind his block tasked with collecting his clothes.
But when the race got under way -- Bolt being slowest out of the blocks -- he was all business, for once running right through the line and gritting his teeth with the effort before stopping the clock at 19.40 seconds, the third fastest of all time. Only Michael Johnson and Bolt himself have ever run quicker, with the tailwind of 0.8 metres per second well inside the legal limit. American Walter Dix was second in 19.70s to add to his silver from the 100m, with France's Christophe Lemaitre taking bronze with a national record of 19.80s.
"I made a small step forward but I have to come to the Olympics now and do my extreme best and just blow people's minds. That's the aim," Bolt said. And asked if that meant retaining his Olympic titles while also threatening his own world records, he added: "I have two more races this season after the 4x100m relay tomorrow.
"If I can get through those injury free then I can start the next season on a positive note and it shouldn't be a problem because I'm even more determined than this year because I missed out on the 100m. I have to really make an impact for me to be a legend in the sport. "For me the Olympics is going to be a big milestone. There's not going to be any joking around, I'm going to be really serious. I'm going to be definitely ready.
"I'm not saying I'm not going to mess around at the line, but I'm talking about throughout the season, it's going to be all serious. I'm going to come out, work hard. I told (100m champion and training partner Yohan) Blake I'm going to out-work him next season."
Bolt, who can win another gold medal in the 4x100m relay on Sunday, added: "I've proved to the world that I'm still the best. I made a mistake in the 100m. If I hadn't I would have won. "I was out of shape but when I'm at championships it's all business and I came here and I just did what I had to do. When I watched the hurdles race (women's 100m) I saw there was a positive wind and that's a good sign so I decided to just come out there and run as hard as possible.
"Lane three was a bit tight for me. I have not run in lane three ever. I always wish to run in an outside lane. I didn't run a perfect corner. If I'd run a good corner I could have come in the straight and done much better. But I'm happy. "I wasn't running angry, I was running hard to say sorry to the fans about the 100m. The fans will decide if I made it up to them. It was not perfect technique but it was all that I have."
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