Jamaican track star Usain Bolt is
considering retiring after the 2016 Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, he said Wednesday. But any plans for going out to grass at the age of
30 would come after three more years of
domination that might include a pop at the
Commonwealth Games next year and another
shot at bettering his own 200m world record. Bolt has dominated the competitive world of
sprinting since claiming three gold medals at the
2008 Beijing Games but hinted ahead of Friday’s
season-ending Diamond League meet in Brussels
that Rio would be his third and last. “After the 2016 Olympics: that seems to be a
good idea, retiring when I’m still on top of my
career,” said the six-time Olympic gold medallist. “But again, if I want to continue to dominate on
the track I can’t afford an off season, that is a
lesson that I have learned. This wasn’t a perfect
season for me. I won but it was not in a ‘Usain
Bolt fashion’.” ‘Usain Bolt fashion’ or not, the 27-year-old
Jamaican still claimed a treble gold at last
month’s world championships, taking his world
gold medal haul to eight. “Now that I’m getting a bit older, I know that I
have to stay injury free, maintain focus and act
responsible,” he said. Bolt added that any plans for the 2014 season, a
year with no global championships, would be
taken in October after he had taken some time
off. “I will prepare for the next season very well. First, I
encouraged my coach (Glen Mills) to turn it down
a bit but he convinced me that that is a bad
option,” he said. “You need to continue working hard, reduce the
risk to get injured and not having to pick it up
from scratch. “So in 2014 I will be racing like I did in any other
season. The Commonwealth Games? I’ve never
been there before but I’ll leave it up to my coach
to decide on my competition programme.” Bolt also hinted that bettering his own world
record of 19.19sec in the 200m, his favoured
event, could be on the cards as well. “The 100m world record (which he also set) is the
hardest to break because it is more technical,”
Bolt said. “In the 200m, if I can master the bend and stay
injury free, there is room for improvement. “As I said, I will prepare well to race as fast as
possible in 2014, and with no championships on
my mind I can concentrate on just trying to race
as fast as I can.”
considering retiring after the 2016 Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, he said Wednesday. But any plans for going out to grass at the age of
30 would come after three more years of
domination that might include a pop at the
Commonwealth Games next year and another
shot at bettering his own 200m world record. Bolt has dominated the competitive world of
sprinting since claiming three gold medals at the
2008 Beijing Games but hinted ahead of Friday’s
season-ending Diamond League meet in Brussels
that Rio would be his third and last. “After the 2016 Olympics: that seems to be a
good idea, retiring when I’m still on top of my
career,” said the six-time Olympic gold medallist. “But again, if I want to continue to dominate on
the track I can’t afford an off season, that is a
lesson that I have learned. This wasn’t a perfect
season for me. I won but it was not in a ‘Usain
Bolt fashion’.” ‘Usain Bolt fashion’ or not, the 27-year-old
Jamaican still claimed a treble gold at last
month’s world championships, taking his world
gold medal haul to eight. “Now that I’m getting a bit older, I know that I
have to stay injury free, maintain focus and act
responsible,” he said. Bolt added that any plans for the 2014 season, a
year with no global championships, would be
taken in October after he had taken some time
off. “I will prepare for the next season very well. First, I
encouraged my coach (Glen Mills) to turn it down
a bit but he convinced me that that is a bad
option,” he said. “You need to continue working hard, reduce the
risk to get injured and not having to pick it up
from scratch. “So in 2014 I will be racing like I did in any other
season. The Commonwealth Games? I’ve never
been there before but I’ll leave it up to my coach
to decide on my competition programme.” Bolt also hinted that bettering his own world
record of 19.19sec in the 200m, his favoured
event, could be on the cards as well. “The 100m world record (which he also set) is the
hardest to break because it is more technical,”
Bolt said. “In the 200m, if I can master the bend and stay
injury free, there is room for improvement. “As I said, I will prepare well to race as fast as
possible in 2014, and with no championships on
my mind I can concentrate on just trying to race
as fast as I can.”
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