There’s nothing like adding just a little challenge when you’re the self-proclaimed “greatest athlete to live.”
It’s for that reason Olympic champion Usain Bolt now says he that he’s considering adding a few more events to his repertoire by the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Namely, the 400-meter dash and long jump.
Just weeks after leaving the London Olympics as the first man to ever capture gold medals in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes at consecutive Olympiads, Bolt suggested that such a possibility was real.
“It’s just about making different goals – there’s a lot of things I can do in the sport,” he was quoted as saying in Sports Illustrated. “My coach wants me to do 400 meters, I want to try long jump.”
Bolt, who will turn 30 in 2016, added a third goal medal in London by anchoring Jamaica’s winning 4×100 relay team.
He didn’t sound then as gung-ho about 2016 as he does now when rested.
“The possibility is there, but it’s going to be very hard,” Bolt said at the time. “I’ve done all I want to do. I’ve got no more goals.”
Now rested, the world’s fastest man sounded eager to possibly take on a new challenge. Apparently, it didn’t take him long to find new motivation.
And a few new events.
In the meantime, Bolt continues to sizzle on the track, clocking a personal-best time in the 200 to highlight Thursday’s action at Lausanne Diamond League meet in Switzerland.
Bolt chose not to run in the 100.
He dominated the 200 race, turning in a speedy time of 19.58 seconds to blow away the field. Dutchman Churandy Martina and Nickel Ashmeade rounded out the top three finishers, all of whom finished under 20 seconds.
Yohan Blake, who finished second to Bolt in London both the 100 and 200, won the 100 dash with a time of 9.69 seconds.
Bolt owns the world record in the 100 with a blistering mark of 9.58.
