BY PAUL A REID Observer writer Tuesday, May 26, 2015
GLOBAL sprint super star Usain Bolt will get his chance to silence doubters when he competes today in the 200m at the 54th Ostrava Golden Spikes meet, an IAAF World Challenge event, at the newly refurbished Mestsky stadium.
Reports from Ostrava are that all 15,000 seats have been sold out as Bolt makes his seventh appearance at the meet, but first in several years. This will be Bolt's first race in Europe since August last year.
Three other Jamaicans are down to take part. They are Asafa Powell, who is listed for the men's 100m where he holds the meeting record of 9.83 seconds set in pouring rain, and Olympic silver medallists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart down to compete in the women's 100m.
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Bolt will be the headliner, however, and he told journalists upon arriving in Ostrava a few days ago that he is in much better shape than his season bests 10.12 seconds in the 100m and 20.20 seconds in the 200m, would suggest.
Bolt holds the meeting record 19.83 seconds in the 200m and has never been beaten in his previous six appearances when he ran everything between 100m to 300m distances.
Bolt, who last competed in early May at the IAAF World Relay Championships in the Bahamas, where he anchored the Jamaican men's 4x100m team to a silver behind the USA, said he would primarily be focusing on the 200m, which he believes will also boost his performances over the 100m, and he would be trying to get as many races as possible to get in shape for the IAAF World Championships in August in Beijing.
Bolt is quoted as saying: "I set the bar in Beijing, I want to go there and surpass that feat." He was referring to the three world records set in Beijing in 2008.
The 32-year-old Powell ran his season's best 9.84 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational three weeks ago, the 84th time he ran under 10.00 seconds, and said he was looking for yet another sub-10.00 seconds clocking today.
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