By Gary Smith, World-Track
PARIS — Usain Bolt says he is not one bit concerned with those skeptical about his abilities to break world records without the use of enhancing substances.
The towering Jamaican resurrected the sprinting fraternity at the Beijing Olympic Games last summer, when exploded to world record times to win the men’s 100m and 200m.
His meteoric rise to stardom, which manufactured 9.69seconds in the 100m and 19.30seconds over the 200m have raised a few eyebrows. Bolt insisted he has never used performance enhancing drugs and said he is not worried about the speculations.
"It doesn’t bother me," Bolt told Metro. "I’ve been running fast and breaking records since I was 14 years old."
Bolt, who before the 2008 season had only ran 10.03 over the 100m in his only competitive dash before raising the bar to new heights, believes he can go as fast as 9.5seconds.
"I don’t know (how fast I can go), but people think 9.5 seconds. I think I can," he said.
Yet he still prefers the 200m, an event he clocked 20.61sec (after running 20.58) to become the youngest ever world junior champion at 15-year-old seven-year-ago in Kingston, Jamaica.
"I always prefer the 200m as that is the event I have been working on and trying to master since I was young.
"I should be at my peak around the 2012 Olympics."
After multiple post-Olympic commitments and a shake up with a car accident, Bolt returned to what he does best, running fast times.
His 19.59seconds on a soaked track with a slight head-wind at the IAAF Lausanne Grand Prix earlier this month, shows things are back to normal on his path.
But Bolt said he is still not fully in shape and vows to get even faster by the time the World Championships start in Berlin next month.
It will be an interesting showdown between himself and American defending world sprint champion Tyson Gay in both races.
Another man to watch out for his Bolt’s fellow countryman and former world record holder Asafa Powell, who is slowly returning to form, following an ankle injury that slowed him down for months.
