New 100m world record-holder Usain Bolt has made it clear he will be seeking a sprint double at the Beijing Olympics in August.

"I will be definitely going for the double," the 21-year-old Jamaican said after charging to a world record of 9.72sec at the Reebok GP in New York last Saturday defying dismal weather to eclipse the mark of 9.74 held by compatriot Asafa Powell.

But even after his stellar performance, the lanky Jamaican insisted the 200m was still his favorite event, leaving some room for speculation as to whether he would pursue both in Beijing.

After sleeping on it, he appeared to have made up his mind.

Bolt said the world record brought a responsibility to go for gold in the 100m. "I am now the fastest man in the world, so I have to run it," he said, but pointedly added on Tuesday that the final decision on running the 100 will rest with his coach.

Powell sent congratulatory remarks to Bolt, but indicated he planned to recapture the record.

"I am very happy for Bolt, he's a big guy and he trains very hard, he deserves the record," Powell said in a statement issued through his manager. "I know that I can run in the 9.6s."

Powell also looked forward to potential clashes with Bolt, including at the Olympic trials. "It will be a very exiting summer," he said.

Bolt, however, downplayed the idea of a duel with his countryman at the Olympic trials.

"I don't think it will be a showdown," he said. "I just think Asafa and I will just be going out there to make the team to Beijing.

"I don't think we're going out there to prove anything. That's how I will be looking at it?-- I don't know how Asafa will be looking at it," Bolt said.

To most of the athletics world, this record-setting surge really has come as a bolt out of the blue. Powell is the household name among athletics fans. America's best sprinter, Tyson Gay, also has that kind of name recognition.

Jamaica Night

Bolt, meanwhile, was a 200 guy. He was full of potential, but not considered a contender for one of the most iconic records in sports when he unexpectedly ran 9.76 -- at that point, the second-fastest time ever?-- last month in Jamaica.

That set the stage for Bolt vs Gay on Saturday, and though the setting was the Big Apple, it felt more like Jamaica Night at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island.

During a 45-minute rain delay, a singer took to the microphone and belted out the Jamaican national anthem. The crowd went wild. The delay only served to heighten the buzz, and when Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang announced he was pulling out of his race because of a tight hamstring, there was no doubt what the main event would be on this night.

"He ran a perfect race," Gay said. "I've got to take my hat off to him."

Bolt got another break when an awkward false start brought the runners back to the blocks. The second gun, signaling the illegal start, didn't go off until the runners were nearly 20 meters into their sprint.

"When they called it back, I said, 'Thank God,' because I didn't get off so well," Bolt said. ''I got a good start the second time around."

Getting out of the blocks is almost always the issue for the top 100-meter sprinters and it also might explain why Bolt never was slotted for greatness in this event.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily June 5, 2008)