Usain Bolt still undecided on 100 for Beijing

[June 04, 2008]  DENVER (AP) -- Trying to nail down Usain Bolt on whether he'll run the 100 meters in Beijing could be as hard as catching him if he does.

The Jamaican sprinter, fresh off setting the world record in track's iconic event last weekend, backed off Tuesday from his earlier guarantees that he'll run the 100 at the Olympics in August.

A specialist in the 200 who just recently got serious about the 100, Bolt said he still plans to run both races in Jamaican nationals at the end of the month to keep his options open. But he stopped short of saying he'd be in the 100 at the Olympics, contradicting what he had said in a statement released by his agent Monday.

"I said that, but my coach still hasn't decided," Bolt said in a conference call with reporters. "But I'll be doubling at trials. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing" after that.

He said, as he has many times, that the 200 is his priority. He'll start training in earnest for the 200 soon and will run a 200 in competition for the first time this year at the Golden Spike, June 12 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

"I'm doing good in the 100, but I prefer the 200 because I've dedicated my whole life to it," Bolt said.

As for his second-favorite race -- well, it'd be hard for him not to love that one, too.

The track world is still buzzing about Bolt's record time of 9.72 seconds Saturday night in New York in what he said was only his fifth official race at that distance.

He's been working hard on his starting technique -- more important in the 100 than in any other event -- and his start Saturday night was perfect. He was ahead of American Tyson Gay from the get-go and beat Gay easily, to say nothing of finishing .02 seconds faster than the record, previously held by his countryman, Asafa Powell.

This came about a month after Bolt recorded a 9.76. Such a stunning climb in such a short time is bound to raise questions in the world of track and field -- a sport constantly hammered by doping allegations and stories of unclean competition.

Bolt fielded the expected doping questions Tuesday, saying he's clean and that his rapid rise shouldn't come as such a surprise.

"I've been running good since I was 15," the 21-year-old said. "This is no surprise to me, no surprise to a lot of people, because I've been doing it since I was young."

He said a second-place finish last year in the 200 at worlds caused him to rededicate himself, spend more time in the gym, less time partying.

"I've matured more," Bolt said. "Getting so near to gold and not winning it, it changed my attitude a little more. I'm more serious now. I really want it. I've done more training, more technical stuff than I did."

In fact, part of his focus on the 100 was to get better prepared for the 200 -- to improve his speed in the straightaways. The 200 is the event in which he won the junior national championship and the one he wants the Olympic gold medal for.

Having already broken the record in the 100, he was asked several times Tuesday if he thought he could threaten Michael Johnson's world record of 19.32 seconds in the 200. Set in 1996, it's one of the longest-standing records in track and field.

Bolt said he'd like to see how some of his early training runs go before making any predictions.

"I go to train, then I go to perform," he said. "I'm not sure. If I run fast enough in training, I may worry about it, but not right now."

[Associated Press; By EDDIE PELLS]

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