KINGSTON—Usain Bolt’s coach Glen Mills says the sprint star’s preparation for the new season has been going smoothly and warned he was already taking careful aim at this year’s World Championship in South Korea. The record-breaking Jamaican will enter the Daegu showpiece in August a marked man, as he seeks to defend both his 100 and 200 metres titles. Bolt shot to prominence at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he captured both the 100 and 200 metres in record-breaking times.
He returned to Berlin a year later to again dominate, lowering his 100 metres mark to 9.58 seconds and smashing American Michael Johnson’s 13-year-old record in posting a mind-boggling 19.19. Bolt will launch his season at the Rome Diamond League next week and Mills said the 24-year-old’s preparations would be carefully monitored to get him the right stage for the August 27 to September 4 event. “He is scheduled to start in Rome next week. We were a bit behind in our training schedule but it’s a long season,” Mills explained.
“This year is the latest that the World Championship will be held, so we have to strategise our preparations. If you notice most of his serious major competitors have just started running, so it’s not anything out of the ordinary to start at a later point in the season.” Bolt’s showdown with American challenger Tyson Gay is expected to headline the World Championships.