Sport
Usain Bolt to run against Asafa Powell in Oslo
Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt at a meet in Zurich. PHOTO/Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
There was less of a show in Usain Bolt’s arrival to the Diamond League meet in Oslo, although the world’s fastest man is no less confident that his form, and his starts, will peak at the London Olympics.
“This season has been very consistent so far, I think,” Bolt said Wednesday. He said his starts have improved since last season when he had been “all over the place.”
“In Jamaica I got a good start, last race in Rome I got a good start. My only bad race was in Ostrava,” Bolt said. “So I think overall, it’s been good. In training it’s been excellent so I can’t really complain.”
Bolt’s participation at the Bislett Games is only his second Diamond League appearance this season. The Jamaican sprinter failed to defend his 100-metre title at the world championships in South Korea last year because he false started.
Bolt established himself as a global superstar at the 2008 Beijing Games, winning both the 100 and 200 titles in world-record times, and helping Jamaica win gold and set another world record in the 4×100 relay. His latest world records of 9.58 in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200 were set at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.
Bolt ran a relatively slow 10.04 in Ostrava last month, raising questions about his Olympic preparations.
He put his poor performance in the Czech Republic behind him with a season’s best 9.76 seconds in the 100 at the Golden Gala last week in Rome. His previous world’s best of 9.82 was set at home in Jamaica earlier this year.
