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Bolt fights for right to party and rule the sprinters' roost
Usain Bolt of Jamaica poses for a photo after receiving the Men's World Athlete of the Year Award. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Usain Bolt was last night named male world athlete of the year and vowed to stop his partying to concentrate on shaking up the sport once more. The Jamaican sprinter was rewarded for his amazing feats at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where his sensational victories in the 100m and 200m - breaking the world record on both occasions - are among the great individual track and field performances.
When the 22-year-old returned home, he was given a hero's welcome but he has become such a national treasure that his downtime has been as much a topic of conversation as his glorious sporting escapades. "The Jamaican people might not like it but that is just me," Bolt said. "I do watch myself [at parties]. They [the public] have been [saying] that I cannot run fast if I party but I have shown them that is not true.
"I don't know what is the problem, they just expect you to train all the time. Jamaica is very proud and they want you to do a good job all the time and they want you to do track and field all day every day. It will not be a problem to be motivated because everyone is gunning for me. Everyone is pushing me even harder to work harder. My main goal is to stay on top."
Bolt received the top honour at the International Association Of Athletics Federations' awards gala after an Olympics where he won the 100m in 9.69sec and the 200m in 19.30sec, the latter breaking the 12-year-old world record of the American Michael Johnson. He then helped the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to gold in a world record.
Since Beijing, he has been attempting to live life as normally as possible. Bolt has started to look for a house and fame has hardly gone to his head. "People in the streets ask me for money," he said. "When I have it, I give it to them. That is me. I would not say I am wealthy but I am getting there."
Yet he is in line to become the richest sprinter in history, from race earnings and sponsorship deals. His agent, Ricky Simms, believes Bolt could become worth as much as $10m (£6.7m), but not until after the Olympics in London.
Simms said: "He is still at the start of his career and we want him to go on at this level to London. We want first and foremost to keep him as an athlete. In 2013, he will take up the opportunities open to him and, yes, he could become the first $10m athlete."
Russia's Olympic pole vault champion, Yelena Isinbayeva, was named female world athlete of the year.
UK Athletics has called on some of Britain's greatest distance runners to help nurture the stars for 2012 and beyond. In the next step of the rebuilding programme of Charles van Commenee, UKA's new head coach, he has asked Lord Coe to chair a new endurance advisory group and has recruited Paula Radcliffe, Dave Bedford, Steve Cram, Brendan Foster and Liz McColgan to meet on a bi-monthly basis to provide input.
They will work alongside Ian Stewart, who won Olympic bronze, European gold and Commonwealth gold over 5000m. He has been appointed to lead the distance running programme as UKA's national endurance coach.
Van Commenee said: "How blessed we are to be in position to do this. It's something we should exploit and utilise. It's such a big asset, but it's been a hidden asset for a long time."
Stewart, who will retain his position as meetings director for UKA's televised events, insists belief is important. "We have to get back to some old-fashioned work ethics, because I think we've forgotten that," he said.
- Michael Phillips at Monte Carlo
- guardian.co.uk, Monday November 24 2008 00.01 GMT
- The Guardian, Monday November 24 2008
- Article history
Usain Bolt of Jamaica poses for a photo after receiving the Men's World Athlete of the Year Award. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty ImagesUsain Bolt was last night named male world athlete of the year and vowed to stop his partying to concentrate on shaking up the sport once more. The Jamaican sprinter was rewarded for his amazing feats at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where his sensational victories in the 100m and 200m - breaking the world record on both occasions - are among the great individual track and field performances.
When the 22-year-old returned home, he was given a hero's welcome but he has become such a national treasure that his downtime has been as much a topic of conversation as his glorious sporting escapades. "The Jamaican people might not like it but that is just me," Bolt said. "I do watch myself [at parties]. They [the public] have been [saying] that I cannot run fast if I party but I have shown them that is not true.
"I don't know what is the problem, they just expect you to train all the time. Jamaica is very proud and they want you to do a good job all the time and they want you to do track and field all day every day. It will not be a problem to be motivated because everyone is gunning for me. Everyone is pushing me even harder to work harder. My main goal is to stay on top."
Bolt received the top honour at the International Association Of Athletics Federations' awards gala after an Olympics where he won the 100m in 9.69sec and the 200m in 19.30sec, the latter breaking the 12-year-old world record of the American Michael Johnson. He then helped the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to gold in a world record.
Since Beijing, he has been attempting to live life as normally as possible. Bolt has started to look for a house and fame has hardly gone to his head. "People in the streets ask me for money," he said. "When I have it, I give it to them. That is me. I would not say I am wealthy but I am getting there."
Yet he is in line to become the richest sprinter in history, from race earnings and sponsorship deals. His agent, Ricky Simms, believes Bolt could become worth as much as $10m (£6.7m), but not until after the Olympics in London.
Simms said: "He is still at the start of his career and we want him to go on at this level to London. We want first and foremost to keep him as an athlete. In 2013, he will take up the opportunities open to him and, yes, he could become the first $10m athlete."
Russia's Olympic pole vault champion, Yelena Isinbayeva, was named female world athlete of the year.
UK Athletics has called on some of Britain's greatest distance runners to help nurture the stars for 2012 and beyond. In the next step of the rebuilding programme of Charles van Commenee, UKA's new head coach, he has asked Lord Coe to chair a new endurance advisory group and has recruited Paula Radcliffe, Dave Bedford, Steve Cram, Brendan Foster and Liz McColgan to meet on a bi-monthly basis to provide input.
They will work alongside Ian Stewart, who won Olympic bronze, European gold and Commonwealth gold over 5000m. He has been appointed to lead the distance running programme as UKA's national endurance coach.
Van Commenee said: "How blessed we are to be in position to do this. It's something we should exploit and utilise. It's such a big asset, but it's been a hidden asset for a long time."
Stewart, who will retain his position as meetings director for UKA's televised events, insists belief is important. "We have to get back to some old-fashioned work ethics, because I think we've forgotten that," he said.