Sport
Usain Bolt looking to run 100m in 9.7s in Ostrava
Usain Bolt wins the 100 metres in 9.82 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica PHOTO/Getty Images
Reigning double Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt is targeting a 9.7 sec time when he takes to the track to race the 100m here on Friday in his European season debut.
Bolt will be making his sixth appearance in the eastern Czech city, where he holds the meet record of 19.83sec over 200m, set just before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
“It’s almost like the ‘must’ for me,” the 25-year-old told media on arrival. “I really enjoy running here and my coach, Glen Mills, knows this is one of the meets I must come to every year.
“It’s always important to run good races. I’m definitely looking forward to it. I started off the season very well,” he said of his winning 9.82 sec performance over the Kingston Invitational 100m earlier this month.
Bolt said the track in Ostrava was a fast one, and that he was clearly targeting to beat compatriot Asafa Powell’s meet record of 9.83 sec, set in 2010.
“Ostrava’s a good track and I always do extremely well here. So I’m just looking forward to going out there, running well,” he said.
“I’ll definitely like to go faster than my opening race. I think I’m in great shape. My coach is very happy at where I’m at, and I’m very happy with it also.
