Bolt ‘will show up’ at World Championships in Beijing

Ahead of this weekend’s Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, six London 2012 gold medallists from across the globe, including the fastest man in history, Usain Bolt, came together to talk about their expectations ahead of the event which takes place between the 24-26 July at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

And Bolt, who has won six Olympic sprint gold medals, says he is angered by the cloud placed over the sport by doping issues, with Gay’s ban for testing positive for an anabolic steroid hitting him particularly hard.

“I’m never anxious because he always finds a way to get me ready for championships”, Bolt said.

He added: “It’s not a nice thing but at the same time, I answered everything that I can and it’s not in my control, it’s nothing to do (with me)”.

“I’ve got two races tomorrow”.

It was in the Bird’s Nest Stadium in 2008 that he produced arguably the greatest performance of his career, breaking the world record with his run of 9.69 as he slowed down metres before the line to start his celebrations at becoming Olympic champion for the first time. I have worked hard in training so we will see how it is.

Bolt, a friend of Farah who shares the same agent in Ricky Simms, added: “When you have confidence in your coach over the years and you know who he is as a person, of course you’re going to want to support him as an athlete”. Beijing is a month away, I am not really anxious about that, I try and take it a step at at time.

“I competed with Tyson throughout the years”, he said.

“The Olympic Games was epic, I’m looking forward to competing [in London] again”, he said. I need to work on my start.

It could even be argued that it’s increasingly important that Bolt show some kind of form tomorrow, considering his rivals – particularly Justin Gatlin, the only man to dip below 9.80 seconds this year – all seem to be in top condition. It really hurts as an athlete to know that the person you really look up to is banned for drugs. I am not going there to lose – I always ensure I am ready for Championships. I’m confident and all you do is just work.

He has only run one 100m race this year and stands joint 60th in the world rankings courtesy of the modest 10.12 sec that he clocked in winning a challenge event on a specially constructed track at the Rio de Janeiro Jockey Club on April 19. “It doesn’t help the sport in any way, at times I do get frustrated and mad”.

Bolt said: “The Olympic Stadium is definitely one of my favourite stadiums”.

“I’ve said to a few of the 4x400m guys that in 2017 I’ll just do the 100m and then try the 4x400m”.

“I’ve noticed that I have to be very careful and I just have to be aware of everything around me and make sure I’m on point”.

And Bolt also reckons Gatlin, who returned from his second doping ban in 2010 and has at times appeared to revel in his portrayal as the villain of sprinting, has learned to be more complimentary of the world record holder.