’Incredible to see Bolt in the City’

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, Sep 03, 2014:  All who know of Usain Bolt, is his automatic fan;  one of them being Indian track and field legend Kenneth Powell. Known for his style and grace during his heyday, the Gentleman Sprinter chose to pay the Chinnaswamy Stadium a visit to catch a glimpse of the reigning superstar of world athletics.

“It is really awesome to see someone of Bolt’s stature coming to India, especially to Bangalore,” said the 74-year-old. “This year has been great for Bangalore. We had the track and field legend Carl Lewis visiting us in May and now Bolt. This is really great.

“Before these two, we had Linford Christie and Maurice Greene. What more can athletics fans ask for. I really enjoyed Lewis’ visit though because he was in the City for a few days and I had a chance to meet him. He was my favourite athlete and it was great moment.

Linford, despite his stature, bowed to me after someone informed him about me.” When asked what question he would have posed to Bolt had he be given a chance, Powell said he wanted to know if Tyson Gay motivated the Jamaican to reach such dizzy heights. “Before Bolt, Gay was the world champion. He was really quick. I wanted to ask if Gay made him reach another level because strong rivalry is what brings the best out of champions.

” Due to paucity of time and add fun to his lighteningquick visit, Bolt’s involvement in Bangalore was limited to the cricket field and spinning tracks at a club. Powell felt it would have been great had the Jamaican ran a race. “It’s nice to see him play cricket and enjoy himself. The fans had a nice time.

But it would have been great had he ran a race on an athletics track.” Bangalore’s two other former champions, Ashwini Nachappa and Reeth Abraham, were part of the Bolt programme earlier in the day, and they too expressed similar sentiments.

Usain Bolt is not just the world’s fastest man, but he is capable of producing rib-tickling fun too. Sample these:  * Which cricketer would you fancy in a 100M sprint? Definitely not Chris Gayle. I would go for AB de Villiers.  *What target would you set for Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh on track to compete with him?  Would give them 14.5 seconds to get past the 100-metre finishing line ...that should be funny.  * Will you take up a career in acting after athletics?  Idont think I am a very good actor.

I dont know may be or may be not because all my life I just lived for sports ...But you never know what future holds.  * Would you prefer to race a cheetah or a fast car?  Cheetah would be cool. It would make for a great headline — Usain Bolt beats cheetah.

* What are your other interests?  Ilove music. I visit clubs and there, I started DJing, and that is fun too. I enjoy dancing and while there is room for improvement, I am good at it.  * Would you like to run a 400M race with David Rudisha:  Iam not a great fan of 400M.

At the start of a season my coach has made me run 400s. An exhibition race could always be on. If I am in good shape and if he is in good shape, why not? It will be good fun.


My 100 metres record looks pretty much out of reach now’ :

BANGALORE: Five years ago, Usain Bolt raised the bar in men’s sprints to a level that has remained unattainable since. Gold and more gold have followed the giant Jamaican during the period in which he has become a truly global star.

In Bangalore to launch a new campaign for his sponsor Puma, Bolt said his 100M record may well stay out of reach of his rivals but felt he could challenge his 200 record.

Excerpts from his media interaction:

* On his 100M world record of 9.58 seconds: The 100M record looks pretty much out of reach. As an athlete, I have seen records come and go. They have always been broken, but if you want to be as great as me, you have to work very hard. Thats why my records will stand for a while.

* On which of his records could be challenged in the near future: Ithink there is room for improvement in the 200. It is very technical, but possible. I have always wanted to run a sub-19. If I keep chasing the 200 record, I am sure, it will help me in the 100 as well.

On his rivals: Track and field is a weird sport. Its all about focus and mental capacity. Its hard to pick any one person, but my coach thinks Justin Gatlin is good. Then there are Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake...so many guys are coming up. But I am not going to let anybody beat me!

* On choosing cricket over athletics: My father is a huge cricket fan. We had two televisions at home, and one was in my room. When there were matches in India, it used to be night time in Jamaica. So in order not to disturb my mom, he would come to my room and watch TV.  That is how I got hooked onto cricket. But when I got to higher secondary, I had two options -- cricket or athletics. My dad said because of the system in Jamaica, it would be better to take up athletics. He said, you just have to run fast in athletics to get into the National team as it was an individual sport while it was tougher to get into the national cricket team. So blame it on my dad!

* On his idol: (NBA player) Kevin Garnett was my idol – the person I was looking up to when I was growing up. I wanted to achieve in my field what he had in his game.

* On India and athletics: It is all about what people want to watch. Here in India, people want to watch cricket more and you are a cricketing nation. When I was growing up, everybody wanted to play cricket all the time in Jamaica.  Now they want to run as well. We have to make the sport attractive to the younger generation. In Jamaica, we have the Champs contest which draws huge number of children and keeps the interest alive.

*On his future after the 2016 Rio Olympics: Iwill compete in one more season after the Rio Olympics.  I have always said I wanted to play football. I might do that, let’s see.