MIAMI (Sporting Alert) National Football League (NFL) star Adrian Peterson says he’s not phased by the accomplishments of Usain Bolt and would love to meet the Jamaican world record holder at the 2016 Olympics.
The 27-year-old Minnesota Vikings running back revealed that he always wanted to compete at track meetings and is prepared to train for the 200 and 400 metres in an attempt to setup a possible meeting with Bolt, who is world’s fastest man over both the 100m and 200m.
Peterson told In Depth with Graham Bensinger, “Before I tore my ACL, I was going to go to a couple of track meets and run unattached and just see where I was at, get some meets under my belt or whatnot, but unfortunately, I hurt my knee.
“Now that I’m back and refreshed, I think I’m going to give it a shot still.
“I told myself, hey, I want to try out for the Olympics for the 200 and the 400. That’s something that – that’s a goal of mine that I want to accomplish.”
But can he match up with the likes of Bolt and his Jamaican training partner Yohan Blake?
“I feel like I can stand up to any challenge,” Peterson said. “I know a lot of people laugh and be like ‘come on, let’s be real with yourself.’
“It’s Usain Bolt, but I feel like you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.”
He has told Bensinger his plan is to test himself in a race at the Penn Relays and see what happens from there.
He said: “I want to test the waters and see what I can do.”
