Usain Bolt to silence his rivals

Despite concerns about his fitness, Usain Bolt has warned his rivals that he’ll be back to his best in London and prove he’s the fastest man on the planet.

The Jamaican pace ace failed to show up at his team’s open training session on Tuesday, leading to worries he’s in a race against time to be fit for the Games.

That’s only added to the sense that the defending 100m and 200m champion is no longer unbeatable. Big rival, and compatriot, Yohan Blake beat him over both distances at the national trials four weeks ago.

Following on from last year’s World Championships catastrophe - Bolt was disqualified from the 100m final after false starting - there’s a feeling Bolt has his work cut out if he’s to strike gold in London.

But if he’s feeling the pressure, or any injury, Bolt’s hiding it well as he insisted he’s ready to make history and successfully defend his sprint titles.

“A lot of legends, a lot of people, have come before me,” the 25-year-old said. “But this is my time. This will be the moment and this will be the year, when I set myself apart from other athletes in the world.”

Never lacking in confidence, Bolt remains happy with his preparations and is using the World Championships woe and Kingston defeats as motivation in the final days before the Games, where he expects to be at his fitness peak.

“With each training session I’m getting better and better,” he said. “I have no other duties now, no worries, it’s all about training, eating and sleeping. I’m feeling better every day. I’m definitely in no doubt I can go and win.

“Things happen throughout the season that throw you off sometimes but you have to learn from your mistakes. I just need to put things in place to make sure it doesn’t happen at the Olympics.

“I just try and get over it and get my confidence up to a level where I’m comfortable.” The 100m is always the showpiece of any Olympic track-and-field meet and Bolt realises that world champion Blake’s rise to prominence, and the threat posed by a strong American contingent, will make for a spectacular final.

“It’s not going to be him (Blake) alone. It’s going to be me, (fellow Jamaican) Asafa Powell, Tyson

Gay, Justin Gatlin and all these guys,” Bolt commented. “It’s a packed race with top-class athletes so it will be a different level of competition for Yohan.

“It’s going to take a lot of focus and it’s going to cause a lot of stress. It will really test him as an athlete - and as a person overall.

“We’ll see how good he is.”

The athletics begins on 3 August.