Usain Bolt looking to run below 19 seconds in the 200m

Jamaican super star sprinter Usain Bolt looking to end Olympic career on a high.

The “Usain Bolt Variety Hour” hit Brazil, big time, Monday.

The closing number said it all: After talking about life, sprinting and the Olympics – and yes, Bolt insisted the Rio de Janeiro Games will be his last – the 6-foot-5 Jamaican pulled out his cell phone and started taking selfies while he shimmied off stage, surrounded by more than a dozen Samba dancers.

The evening with Bolt also included his now-immortalized “To Di World” pose, and a few serious questions about racing and doping.

In the lead up to the Rio Olympics, Bolt’s legs haven’t fared as well. He pulled out of his national championships last month with a sore hamstring, which he has been trying to rehabilitate in time to put on a show in Brazil.
He takes to the track Saturday for the early rounds of the 100 meters. If he wins the 100, 200 and 400 relay, the way he has at the last two Olympics, he will close his Olympic career with 9 gold medals.

By now, though, it is as much about the show as the results, and Bolt said as much Monday night.
“I am definitely a sprinter first, but I like to entertain,” he said. “That’s what people come out to see. They like it when I do crazy stuff.”

By doing that, he has obliterated the decades-old image of the sullen, skulking sprinter – and has also offered a much-needed breath of fresh air in a sport plagued by doping scandals that have dominated the lead-up to the Olympics.

“I think we are going in the right direction,” Bolt said. “I must say, we are weeding out the bad ones. I think people should have faith. We have to go through the rough times before we get to the good times.”

Speaking of which, Bolt has not ruled out a goal he set a long time ago – to better his record of 19.19 seconds in his favorite race, the 200.

He has long said he would like to take the record, which stood at 19.32 for 12 years before he first broke it at the Beijing Olympics, into the 18-second range.

But the leg injury leading up to the Olympics made it a less-manageable goal to pursue.

“I really, really, really want that one,” Bolt said.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press