Sprint talent Usain Bolt ruled out running the 400 meters for the foreseeable future, announced the 23—year—old Jamaican on Friday.
Bolt set new world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and followed up that feat last year with three more gold medals and two more world records at the World Championships in Berlin.
Expectations rises up for him to commit to running the 400m at the 2012 Olympics in London, but the Jamaican says no plan for the race at the time being.
“The 200 meters is as far as I’ll go,” he said during a conference on Friday.
“The 300 is almost a sprint, but it’s not that bad. The lactic acid starts to build up, but it’s not that bad.” Bolt’s 100m rival Tyson Gay recently broke the 45—second mark in the 400m, Bolt’s personal best is 45.28 seconds, but the sprint king said he would not be drawn into a duel at the distance.
Asked what put him off the event, Bolt said: “The training. It’s much harder than training for the 200m. I don’t think I’m ready.” He did concede, however, that he could be persuaded into competing at the longer distance in the interests of establishing his legacy in athletics.
“I don’t want to do 400 meters,” he said. “People want me to do it, but I don’t want to. If I have to do it, if that’s what it takes for me to become a legend of the sport, I guess I’ll have to do it. But I don’t want to.
“The only event I think I’ll try is the long jump,” he said. ”But at the end of my career, just before I retire.” Bolt will race his first 100m of the year in Daegu, South Korea, venue for next year’s World Championships, before appearing at the Diamond League event in Shanghai, China on May 23.
He is also scheduled to compete in the Diamond League meets in New York, Paris and Brussels.
With no major championship to work towards this season, Bolt said the new, 14-event Diamond League would give him and his rivals a good opportunity to put on a show.
Looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics, Bolt says that only by defending his 100m title in London can he etch his name even more deeply into athletics record.
