SWITZERLAND: ATHLETICS: Double-triple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt says he might turn his talents to the 400 metres and long jump

Record ID: 799327

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: ATHLETICS: Double-triple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt says he might turn his talents to the 400 metres and long jump
  • Date: 22nd August 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE AUGUST 12, 2012) (REUTERS) BOLT ACTING AS A DJ AT A CLUB DURING THE OLYMPICS
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAE5X0ZU3HDK357AEI080RD6QSF
  • Story Text: Usain Bolt says he might take on the 400 metres after again proving his dominance at the sprints at the London Olympics following his meteoric rise to fame in Beijing four years ago.
    Speaking ahead of the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Thursday (August 23), the Jamaican who won the 100, 200 and 4x100 metres gold medals in London, also set his sights on the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
    Speaking about his plans, Bolt said: "There's a lot of things I can do in the sport. My coach wants me to do 400 metres, I want to try long jump, I could always try to aim for the records again, so there's different things but after the season we'll decide what we want to do and work on that next season."
    Bolt currently holds the 100 and 200 metres world records and helped the Jamaican relay team break the world record in the 4x100 London final.
    Asked if he was trying to break his own records in London he said: "Initially I was just there to defend my titles, it was never about the world records because I have the world records so I didn't really worry about trying to go faster, it was all about winning, about defending my titles and doing something no one has ever done before."
    He became the first man to win three sprinting golds at consecutive games and could be forgiven if he decided to call time on his Olympic career.
    But he vowed to compete in Brazil in 2016.

    "Definitely I will be there, as long as I'm fit and I'm ready. I'll be there. It'll be a little bit harder," he laughed, "but I'm looking forward to it."
    Bolt has also been looking at a possible future outside athletics, stating he would love to be a professional soccer player.

    "I'd definitely like to try it out, to see if I could do it. If I get the chance I would. So every chance I can get to play football I'll play, just to see if I could really could do it professionally," he said.
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