LONDON – Jamaican triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt is fully fit for his historic bid for repeat golds in the 100 and 200 metres despite reports to the contrary, his agent said on Friday.
“Usain is 100 percent healthy,” Ricky Simms said in an email to Reuters.
Bolt faced the media on Thursday, telling a packed news conference he had completely overcome his back and hamstring issues
The biggest name in athletics also told Reuters in a separate interview arranged by the Jamaican Olympic Association: “I have no problem. The back is good so the hamstring is alright.”
However, the debate over his fitness was reignited when the BBC quoted Bolt on Thursday as saying “I think I am probably 95 percent fit but I am in great shape.”
A sluggish Bolt finished an uncharacteristic second to training partner and world 100m champion Yohan Blake in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Jamaican trials last month while suffering from a slight hamstring problem.
“I wasn’t 100 percent at the trials,” Bolt told Reuters. “But when it comes to championships I always give 100 percent.”
Those who observed Bolt in training in Birmingham this week said there was no comparison between the way the 25-year-old looked at the Jamaican trials and now.
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“He looked like the old Usain,” one person said.
Bolt told Reuters he had spent much of his training camp working on his 200 metres.
“Especially around the turn,” he said.
“We also did over distance (work) just to get that strength back up because I was slightly dying at the end of my 200s (in the trials).”
Things are much better now.
“We are definitely happy where it is,” Bolt told Reuters on Thursday.
