Highlights
You chase records, I'll win races, says Bolt
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-24 10:30
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SHANGHAI - Usain Bolt might not be chasing world records this year but that does not mean he will be letting anybody beat him in races, the Olympic and world sprint champion warned on Sunday.
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 Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after winning the men's 200 metres race at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meet in Shanghai May 23, 2010. [Photo/Agencies] |
Because there are no major championships this year, the Jamaican has said he will not be out to better his 100 and 200 metre world records, which prompted American rival Tyson Gay to warn him he might lose races.
"Yes, I said I'm not gonna chase the records. I said it doesn't matter if I get beaten this season because this season is the off season," Bolt told reporters after winning the 200 metres in 19.76 seconds at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting.
"But I am not gonna go giving anybody a race. So if Tyson decides that he wants to beat the record. Fine. For me, even if he wants to go chasing, I don't.
"I'm just gonna lead the run and try to stay unbeaten this season. So I am looking forward to the clashes."
Bolt was racing for the first time in China since his triple gold medal winning exploits lit up the Bird's Nest stadium at the Beijing Olympics.
Although more subdued than on those heady August nights in 2008, Bolt is still enough of the showman to give something to the 30,000 or so Chinese who turned out on a chilly evening.
Pull-ups on the soccer dugouts and one-handed press-ups gave the early arrivals something to talk about, and his introduction on the big screen before the race was a flurry of struck poses.
A huge cheer greeted his victory but the celebrations were modest by his own standards, suggesting that even his showmanship is exhaustible.
"I didn't think of posing. I did it so much in Korea I guess I was kind of tired of doing it," he said, referring to his 100 metres victory in Daegu on Wednesday.
With high hurdler Liu Xiang still hampered by the Achilles problem that prevented him from racing at the Beijing Olympics, China's track and field outlook is pretty bleak.
Bolt suggested the Chinese might take some succour from the many other sports they excel at, which brought them 51 gold medals in Beijing.
"Sometimes the countries were just blessed with different different talent," he said.
"China, and most of the Asian people, are very good at gymnastics and some stuff you never find out in Jamaica.
"So I guess it's just about blessing. In Jamaica we have a lot of track and field athletes. We run very well but we suck at everything else."
