World record holder in the men's 100-meter race Usain Bolt got his coach's nod to compete in both 100m and 200m sprints in the Beijing Olympics, clearing his way to win the greatly coveted Olympic triple sprint golds.
Glen Mills, coach for the 21-year-old Jamaican who just arrived in Beijing on Saturday, said Sunday morning (Beijing Time) on the IAAF website that Bolt will take the double in the coming Olympics, from Aug. 8 to 24.
The Olympic information system, Info2008, also showed Sunday that Bolt, who refreshed his countryman Asafa Powell's former world record by two hundredths of a second to 9.72 seconds in May, would participate in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in the Olympic athletics.
After his low-profile arrival in Beijing, neither Bolt nor Powell showed up Sunday in the training camp located in Beijing's east suburbs. Jamaican Olympic delegation members said that at least Powell and two other relay teammates will train in an unspecified camp in Tianjin, an Olympic co-host 120 kilometers southeast of Beijing.
Bolt ran the year's best two in the 100 meters dash, including his record-breaking performance two months ago in London. The lanky runner also finished the best two in the 200 meters race, which made him a dominant runner in the half-lap competition.
Double dash golds are something the most aspired by any elite sprinters. The last one who got the unusual glory during the Olympics was Carl Lewis of the United States who won the both in 1984 in Los Angeles.
The triple world champion (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay), American Tyson Gay lost his chance to line up with Bolt in the men's 200 meters after he was disqualified in June for a berth of the U.S. team for the competition due to leg cramps.
Powell, who outperformed Bolt over a week ago in Stockholm, Sweden, by a slight advantage, will not be in the 200 meters competition too. Compared to his top performance in the 100 meters dash, his personal best in the half-lap race was unimpressive.
However, the Jamaican men's 4x100 meters relay team is formidable enough to any of their competitors. Besides Bolt and Powell, the rest two members of the relay team, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter, both clocked sub-10 seconds in the 100 meters.
Track and field is the biggest gold hope for the Jamaican Olympic delegation to Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)