Usain Bolt to Skeptics: ‘I’m Clean’

Usain Bolt has one thing to say following the doping violations that have been publicized about his countrymen: “I’m clean.”

Bolt, who is undoubtedly the fastest man in the world, is speaking publicly for the first time since Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson and Veronica Campbell-Brown tested positive for banned substances.

“If you were following me since 2002, you would know that I have been doing phenomenal things since I was 15,” Bolt told reporters in London. “I was the youngest person to win the world junior title at 15, I ran the world junior record at 18, the world youth record at 17. I have broken every record there is to break, in every event I have ever done. For me, I have proven myself since I was 15. For me, I have shown I was always going to be great.”

Bolt went on to say, “I was made to inspire people and to run. I was given a gift and that’s what I do. I’m confident in myself and my team, the people I work with. And I know I am clean.”

Powell, Campbell-Brown and Simpson firmly deny knowingly taking banned substances. While those three will not be competing, Bolt is expected to run at weekend’s Diamond League meeting in London.

Bolt’s speed is off the charts. See the video above.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top