Catch him if you can: Usain Bolt looks forward to final Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO — As he heads into his final Olympic Games, Usain Bolt took time to reflect on one of his most memorable moments in international competition: His gold medal in the 200 meters at the 2012 London Games, one that Bolt’s longtime coach, Glen Mills, called “one of the worst races you’ve ever run.”
“He just went on until I got depressed,” said Bolt, who is attempting to become the first male sprinter in Olympic history to capture the gold in the 100 and 200 in three consecutive Games. “It was just one of those things.”
That Bolt took gold — one of his six overall — despite running a subpar race is yet another testament to his immense talent, and part of a legacy of international sprinting success unequaled in the sport's history.
And this will be his final Games, Bolt reiterated on Monday, though he is scheduled to run his farewell races in next year’s World Outdoor Championships.
“I think this is the last one for sure,” he said. “I’ve done enough and proven myself over and over again. And I’m looking forward to this one also.
“A lot of people are not happy, but sorry.”
It’s been a somewhat uneventful season for Bolt, who won the 100 at an event in his home country of Jamaica in June but withdrew from the team qualifying trials in early July with a hamstring injury.
The 100 doesn’t make him nervous, he said, but the 200 does.
“The 100 is never really that stressful. I know where I’m weakest and where I’m strongest. But when I get to the 200 meters I’m nervous from the start of the rounds until the finals.”
That 200, which begins with qualifying on Aug. 16 and concludes with its finals on Aug. 18, will mark the final individual race of Bolt’s Olympics career. A day later, he’ll be one leg of Jamaica’s famed 4x100 relay team, which has claimed gold at each of past two Olympics.
“Athletics is my life,” Bolt said. “We train all year round. We get a month if we’re lucky. That’s my life, and I’m lucky. I know I’m going to miss being around people — not the media so much, but people.”