The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Usain Bolt

  • Not so fast young man, Bolt cautions De Grasse

    Not so fast young man, Bolt cautions De Grasse

    Usain Bolt has cautioned Canadian young gun, Andre De Grasse to temper his expectations of dethroning him at the world championships in London in August.

    The 30-year-old Jamaican will run his final race on home soil at the Racers Grand Prix this weekend before hanging up his spikes after the London meet.

    De Grasse, who chased Bolt home for silver in the 200 metres and bronze in the 100m at the Rio Olympics last year, is widely tipped to be one of the athletes bidding to fill the void left by the sprint king’s retirement.

    “Over the years I’ve always tried to be diplomatic about how I answered a lot of questions.

    “But what bothers me the most when athletes are coming up through the ranks and they get to a certain level, they always want to beat me. I don’t know why?” Bolt told reporters in Kingston on Thursday.

    De Grasse, 22, said this week he intends to beat Bolt before the world record holder in both 100 and 200m brings down the curtain on his glittering career.

    Bolt, who will only run the shorter sprint in the British capital, has not been beaten in an individual sprint at a major championship for a decade.

    He has won the sprint double at the last three Olympics and three of the last four world championships, the one exception being when he false started in the 100m at Daegu in 2011.

    “I always tell my younger athletes at Racers track club, listen, when you’re climbing a ladder.

    “You have to take your time and work your way up to the top’, so all I have to say to De Grasse is take your time and climb his way to the top,” Bolt said.

    “That’s all I have to say about that.”

  • Van Niekerk wins 200 meters race at speedy Boston street meet

    Van Niekerk wins 200 meters race at speedy Boston street meet

    South African Wayde van Niekerk easily won a 200m straightaway race and fellow Olympians Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Tori Bowie clocked the fastest times ever in two other infrequent races at the Boston Games street meeting on Sunday.

    Van Niekerk, the 400m world record holder, cruised home in 19.84 seconds on an especially built elevated track on Boston’s Charles Street that enabled fans to watch up close.

    He defeated American BeeJay Lee by 0.33 seconds.

    “It was challenging,’’ Van Niekerk told reporters. “To be honest I thought I did a 400m. It was a bit tough.’’

    The Olympic 400m champion was tuning up to run both the 200 and 400 at August’s world championships in London.

    “I’ve still got a lot of work to do and have a lot of areas I need to look into,’’ he said. “But it was a positive win for me today.’’

    Bahamian Olympic women’s 400m gold medallist Miller-Uibo wiped out American Allyson Felix’s 200m straightaway world best with another runaway victory.

    She finished in 21.76 seconds in taking out Felix’s 2010 best of 22.55 seconds at the Manchester, England, street meet.

    Typically, 200m races are run around a bend and only those are recognised as world records.

    Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has the men’s record of 19.19secs and American Florence Griffith Joyner holds the women’s mark at 21.34.

    Bowie, a double sprint medallist at Rio, took down another Felix world best in the women’s 150m straightaway, running 16.30secs.

    Felix set the previous best of 16.36 at Manchester in 2013.

  • Usain Bolt: No regrets over retirement decision

    Usain Bolt: No regrets over retirement decision

     

     

     

     

    Usain Bolt was crowned Laureus Sportsman of the Year for a record equalling fourth time on Tuesday night, matching the achievement of Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

    The 30-year-old completed the hallowed triple-triple of Olympic sprint titles in Rio last summer only to have one of his gold medals stripped from him after relay team-mate Nesta Carter was exposed as a doper.

    Bolt confirmed he had already handed back the gold medal from the 100m relay at Beijing 2008 for it to be redistributed to Trinidad and Tobago, who were upgraded from silver.

    Bolt gathered the winners to take a selfie in the style of Ellen Degeneres after the award.

    The Jamaican was presented his Laureus award by Michael Johnson and rebuked the suggestion he might continue to Tokyo 2020.

    ‘For me I’m satisfied with what I’ve done,’ he said, ‘If it was up to me I would’ve hung my shoes up after the Olympics, but the fans begged me to continue. I’m still in good shape, I’m not fat so I want to run as many races as possible.’

    Claudio Ranieri was also in Monaco to collect the Spirit of Sport award on behalf on his Leicester City team who defied odds of 5,000/1 to win the Premier League last season. The Italian admitted he liked to temporarily bask in the glow of last season’s triumph and briefly forget the struggles of this year.

    His side are hovering one point above the relegation zone after five successive defeats including a 2-0 loss at Swansea last weekend.

  • Bolt show class in Nitro Athletics event

    Bolt show class in Nitro Athletics event

     

     

    Usain Bolt returned to the track for the first time since losing his 2008 Olympic relay gold, and  thrilled fans as he helped his All-Stars team to victory in of all events, a relay, Saturday

    In his only event of the night at the Nitro Athletics Series in Melbourne, Bolt took the baton from Asafa Powell and showed everyone what he can do by powering away down the back straight.

    The world’s fastest man was impressed with the atmosphere the 7,000 strong crowd at Lakeside Stadium generated for the new team event.

    ‘It was a lot of fun,’ Bolt said. ‘The crowd came out and supported and I’m urging more people to come out on Thursday and next Saturday because it’s a great event.

    Also in the Melbourne field are Bolt’s fellow Jamaican sprinter Michael Frater, Rio de Janeiro Olympics 400-meter hurdles champion Kerron Clement and American long jumper and sprinter Jarrion Lawson.

    Teams from Australia, England, China, Japan and New Zealand, composed of 12 men and 12 women, are also competing in the meet.

    Events include the mixed medley relays, sprints over 60 and 200 meters, the long jump and the elimination mile, where at the end of the first, second and third laps, the last-place runner is eliminated.

  • Usain Bolt stripped of 2008 Olympic relay gold medal

    Usain Bolt stripped of 2008 Olympic relay gold medal

     

    The fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt alongside Jamaican 4×100 metres relay team have been formally stripped of their Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal after the disqualification of Nesta Carter for doping.

    The decision, announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today, means that sprinting supremo Bolt loses the “triple triple” of gold medals won across the Beijing, London and Rio Games.

    Re-analysis of frozen samples submitted by Carter resulted in a positive test for banned stimulant methylhexaneamine: a substance that was indirectly but not specifically on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited list at the time.

    Trinidad and Tobago will now be promoted to the gold medal position.

    Japan will take the silver medal and Brazil the bronze.

    “The Jamaican team is disqualified from the men’s 4x100m relay event,” a statement confirmed.

    “The corresponding medals, medallist pins and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.

    “This decision enters into force immediately.”

    Russia’s Tatiana Lebedeva has also been stripped of silver medals won in the long jump and triple jump events.

  • Bolt, Farah, Thompson among 2017 Laureus awards nominees

    Bolt, Farah, Thompson among 2017 Laureus awards nominees

    Olympic champions Usain Bolt, Mo Farah and Elaine Thompson are among the nominees announced for the 2017 Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards.

    A statement on the website of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Thursday said that Bolt was a three-time winner of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.

    The statement said he successfully defended his Olympic 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles to leave Rio as one of the 2016 Olympic Games’ biggest heroes.

    It added that the 30-year-old Jamaican received the honour in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

    It said that Farah, 33, successfully defended his Olympic titles at 5000m and 10,000m to become only the second man to achieve the back-to-back “double double’’ over the distances.

    Thompson, who won the Olympic 100m and 200m titles in Rio and U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix, the Olympic 400m silver medallist are nominated for the World Sportswoman of the Year Award.

    It said that elsewhere, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia and South African Wayde van Niekerk were nominated for the World Breakthrough of the Year award.

    Both set world records in Rio, Ayana in the 10,000m and van Niekerk in the 400m. In December, Ayana and Bolt were named Athletes of the Year and the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016.

    Ruth Beitia, Spain’s Olympic and European high jump champion was among the nominees in the Comeback of the Year category.

    Outside of athletics, tennis star Andy Murray, NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry were also nominated in the men’s category.

    Other women nominated for the top honour include gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky of the U.S., German tennis star Angelique Kerber and British cyclist Laura Kenny.

    The statement said that the nominees were selected following a ballot by the world’s sports media.

    It added that the winners will be announced at the Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony on Feb. 14 in Monaco, Spain.

  • Usain Bolt delves into another sport after 2016 Olympics

    Usain Bolt delves into another sport after 2016 Olympics

    After making history with his “treble treble” Usain Bolt, who has won all gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in the same events in Beijing 2008, London 2012, Brazil 2016, has shown interest in another sport.

    Although, Bolt had already said Rio 2016 was going to be his last Olympics as a sportsman, he might just be showing up in Tokyo as a javelin thrower if we are to relate this clip with something.

    After celebrating his 30th birthday on Sunday, Bolt was filmed having a go at the javelin after the closing ceremony in Brazil.

    This which he has never been seen practicing, but when he threw the javelin, the distanced he reached was that of a familiar or regular thrower, as 56m throw was recorded by present officials in which the winner of men’s javelin at the competition Leonel Suarez of Cuba while the least throw in the women’s javelin final was 57.7m, just two metres beyond Bolt’s throw.

  • Bolt wins ninth Olympics gold

    Bolt wins ninth Olympics gold

    Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt ended his Olympics career by claiming an unprecedented “triple triple” and his ninth gold as Jamaica won the 4x100m relay final in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Bolt, 29, had won the 100m and 200m in Rio and is the only man to win all three sprint events at three Games.

    He combined with Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade to lift gold in a time of 37.27 seconds, the BBC reports.

    Japan won a surprise silver and the United States was disqualified to hand Canada the bronze medal and lift Britain up to fifth.

    “There you go, I’m the greatest,” said Bolt, who has won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the last three Games.

    He intends to retire after the 2017 World Championships in London and will not compete at Tokyo 2020, at which point he will be nearly 34.

    Bolt’s haul of nine golds is the joint highest among Olympics athletics.

    He is now equal with U.S sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis, who won nine golds over four Games, and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi.

    “I’m going to stay up late and have fun,” Bolt told the BBC.

    “I never knew this would happen when I started out. My team came through for me tonight. As long as we got the baton round, it was never in doubt.

    “It’s a brilliant feeling. It’s been a long road. I’m happy, but I’m relieved. It’s great to be in the history books as one of the greatest. I’m proud of myself.”

  • Bolt wins Olympics 200m gold

    Bolt wins Olympics 200m gold

    Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m to claim his second gold at this year Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his eighth at an Olympics, and keep alive his hopes of an unprecedented “treble treble.”

    The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to finish ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre.

    Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, but was denied his first Olympic medal in a photo finish.

    Bolt, 29, has already won the 100m in Rio and will run in the 4x100m relay final on Friday (02:35 BST, Saturday).

    The Jamaican, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight of the Olympic finals in which he has appeared.

    “The fact I came here and executed what I wanted to is a brilliant feeling,” he told the BBC.

    “I wasn’t happy with the time when I crossed the line but I’m excited I got the gold medal – that’s the key thing.”

    Only United States’ sprinter Carl Lewis and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi have won more Olympics gold medals in athletics.

    Lewis won nine golds between 1984 and 1996, while Nurmi also won nine between 1920 and 1928.

  • Usain Bolt completes historic 100m win at Olympics

    Usain Bolt completes historic 100m win at Olympics

    Regarded as the fastest person ever timed, Usain Bolt, did not disappoint his audience at the ongoing Rio Olympics as he stepped out on Sunday to participate in the 100metres race.

    The Jamaican sprinter completed a historic three-peat, winning gold in the 100-metre final in Rio. He cleared the doubts that anyone could have heard in mind in less than 10 seconds — 9.81, to be specific — for Bolt to erase those doubts as he emerged the first person to capture three straight 100-metre titles at the Olympics.

    [ad id=”549777″]

    “Bolt just had that extra gear and I tried to go with him, it was tough but I know now I just need to work harder for next year and be more prepared.

    “After having an up and down season with injuries this year, I can’t complain about the bronze medal. This is the best shape I’ve ever been in [and] I came away with a personal-best,” confessed Canadian Andre De Grasse, who won bronze.