Record smashing Usain Bolt slams Olympic rules

The fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, may have smashed his record and won gold ...

16:09 06 August 2012

The fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, may have smashed his record and won gold in the men's 100m Olympic final but he couldn't quite outrun the "silly rules" which are in motion at the 2012 London Games. 

 

Comparing these games with the last ones at Beijing, Bolt was quoted by the Independent: "It has been different from Beijing. There are lots of rules, weird, silly rules that don’t make any sense to me.

 

"I tried to wear my tie into here [the park]. They said ‘no’. I said why? ‘Because of the rules’, they said.

 

"Then I wanted to bring my skipping rope in and they said ‘no’ because it’s ‘the rules’. These rules just don’t make sense to me."

 

Regardless, Bolt can't feel too bad about the restrictions; he smashed his own Olympic record and was the second fastest in history (behind only himself).

 

He even went on to say that he started slower than he could have to make sure he didn't tempt disqualification after his notorious World Championship performance.

 

Bolt told the BBC: "I was slightly worried about my start. I didn’t want to false start again, so I sat in the blocks a little bit. It wasn’t the best reaction in the world but I executed it and that was the key. My coach said ‘stop worrying about the start because the best part of your race is the end’. It worked.

 

"I said it on the track, people can talk, but when it comes to championships, it is all about business for me, and I brought it."

 

With a time of 9.63, the Jamaican sprinter proved all his critics wrong and boasted about the fact later.

 

"You guys doubted me and I've shown the world that I am the greatest," he said. "This is what I do. It's fun for them and I enjoy giving them the show. On your marks is when the focus starts." 

 

Trailing slightly behind him was his own Jamaican compatriot Yohan Blake with a 9.75 and American Justin Gatlin with a 9.79. Indeed, all of those competing had great under-10 second times aside from Asada Powell who had an injury flare up after 70m. 

 

"It was one of the best races of all-time," said Bolt. "I think the only reason it wasn't better is Asafa got hurt. Otherwise everyone would have been under 10 seconds." 

 

It's not over for Bolt yet - he will also compete in the 200 metres and relight the fire of co-country rivalry with Yohan Blake when the heats begin on Tuesday.