MIAMI, FL (Sporting Alert) — Ato Boldon, the four-time Olympic Games medalist believes that Usain Bolt‘s opening race at the Jamaica International Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston, on Saturday has set him up well for another exciting summer.
Bolt raced over the 100 metres for the first time this season and his performance was a world-leading 9.82 seconds, the fastest he’s ever started and Boldon says this is bad news for those hoping to challenge the Jamaican double world record holder this year.
“Let me tell you why this time is so significant,” the former world-class sprinter said. “This is as fast as Usain Bolt has ever opened his 100m season, so for those of you who are expecting a world record from [him] this year this is good news.”
The Trinidad and Tobago legend and 1997 world 200m champion, also highlighted that Bolt “didn’t look particularly comfortable” with the execution of his race, “but if he’s that unhappy with 9.82, this is bad news for anybody” wanting to take him down this Olympic year.
The time bettered the previous world leading mark of 9.90, set by his countryman and training partner Yohan Blake, the world champion from Daegu.
Bolt holds the world record in the 100m, at 9.58secs and also the Olympic Games mark, at 9.69secs.
He won both the 100m and 200m sprint double in Beijing, in 2008.
Gary Smith is one of the leading writers for World-Track.org. He has over 10 years of running experience, as well as eight-years of coaching while covering several events, from the international to college level. Smith, who has covered events for publications such as Caribbean Net News, Cayman Net News, AFP and Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), is also a frequent contributor of SportingAlert.com and TrackAlerts.com.
