LONDON â Usain Bolt has warned his rivals that heâs âready to goâ as he prepares to bid farewell to the sport at the IAAF World Championships in London, later this week.
Bolt, who won the sprint double two-years-ago, will only run the 100m in London and heâs assuring his fans that heâs in go mode.
The Jamaican sprint sensation will be chasing a fourth IAAF World Championships 100m gold medal, and despite concerns over his fitness heading into the championships, the world record holder is âfully confidentâ about defending his title on Sunday.
âCome on, you guys know if I show up at a championships Iâm fully confident,â Bolt told an audience at The Brewery in east London.
âMy coach is confident and Iâm ready to go. Iâm fully confident, 100-percent.â
Bolt heads into the London championships well below his best form, having broken the 10-seconds barrier only once this year with a seasonâs best of 9.95 seconds.
Several pundits are shockingly predicting that the likes of world-leader Christian Coleman of USA, Canadaâs Andre De Grasse, as well as Jamaicaâs 2011 world champion Yohan Blake and American Justin Gatlin, are better placed to relegate Bolt off the podium.
However, the 30-year-old is not troubled by the early predictions and is well motivated to once again prove a point to his collection of doubters.
âIâm the underdog, for some reason,â he said. âThatâs what I keep reading. Thatâs what my team keeps telling me⊠Iâve got to prove myself once more.â
Bolt usually gets to major championships almost ready and then uses the rounds to race himself into sharpness and the sprint legend is planning to do the same thing again in London.
âMy last race was 9.95, which shows Iâm going in the right direction,â he noted.
âThe two rounds [heats and semis] always helps me. Iâm always going forward.
âAt championships itâs about who keeps their nerve. Iâve been here before. Itâs time to go. Itâs âgoâ time.â