The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: The 200m record could be next, says Bolt's camp

LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter

Usain Bolt (right), 100m world record holder, shares a light moment with coach Glen Mills at a press briefing at The Courtleigh hotel yesterday to honour Bolt's 9.72 record run in New York on Saturday. - levaughn flynn

The 200m world record is within striking distance of Usain 'Lightning' Bolt, said his coach Glen Mills.

Bolt has been in impeccable form this year, capped by a 100m world record run of 9.72 seconds in New York on Saturday, and Mills believes the 19.32 seconds held by American Michael Johnson is attainable by his athlete.

"If he was running a 200m on Saturday the time could have been as spectacular like the 100," said Mills.

Responding to "19.32?" by a member of the media, Mills stated, "When he runs the 200 it might not be that far away."

Mills was speaking at The Courtleigh Hotel in St Andrew yesterday where Bolt was being honoured by sponsors Digicel for his record run. Bolt, who has a personal contract with Digicel, received a bonus cheque for $1.8 million to add to the US$100,000 (approx. Ja$7.2m) he will receive from the IAAF for establishing a world record.

Bolt will next race in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 12 in the 200m as he tries to balance his preparation between the two sprint events for the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Specific speed endurance

"We will be doing specific speed endurance and other biomechanical preparations in terms of his turns and starts," said Mills. "One of the things we have to master is how to distribute his speed over 200 metres. Last season he used most of it on the turn and we want to redistribute it so that he will be harder to run down (it will be more difficult to catch him) in the straight."

Equally impressive as Bolt's talent, said Mills, is his confidence and desire to compete. And that bodes well for Bolt's chances of capturing Johnson's 200m record.

"Usain is a very good competitor; he's not afraid of challenges. One of the decisions I took when we started is that we would race against the best. If you look at his races, 90 per cent of them we have run against the best because we want to measure ourselves against them to see what we need to do, and we also want to let them know that we can beat them - they need to be afraid of us."

"Usain has done that over the past two years and has acquitted himself very well. So we have no fear of anybody or any finals and we are ready to run."

not a guarantee

Mills also admitted that Bolt would compete in the 100m and 200m at the National Championships later this month, but that it's not a guarantee he will compete in both events at the Olympics.

"We have to look at how the preparations go between now and August, but we are keeping our options open, and as a result we will double in the trials," he said.