Bolt wants to dominate until 2016

PARIS (AP) — Older and wiser, Usain Bolt is out to dominate his  rivals on the track at least until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The six-time Olympic champion, who is competing at the Areva  meeting in Paris on Saturday, looks to be back in shape after his form and  motivation were questioned following a defeat by American sprinter Justin Gatlin.

Bolt has recovered since then by winning the 200 at the Bislett  Games and running 9.94 on home soil over 100 metres at the Jamaican trials on  June 21. And he clearly wants to keep that form going.

“I want to continue dominating until the next Olympics. I have to  work hard, train hard and stay focused,” Bolt told a news conference yesterday. “I’ve won everything already, but now it’s to show that I can be a dominant  sprinter. You want to dominate for the rest of your career.”

In some ways, losing to Gatlin may even have helped the tall  Jamaican to get back into his stride.

“I figured out what I needed to do to get back on target,” he  said. “I’ve been working hard, I’ve been focused, I’ve been sacrificing a lot,  so now I’m on target.”

Bolt, who turns 27 in August, is preparing for next month’s World  Championships in Moscow by racing the 200 metres in Paris, the ninth leg of the  Diamond League.

It’s a meet where he will face compatriots Warren Weir and Nickel  Ashmeade, along with former 200-metre European champion Christophe Lemaitre of  France.

And it’s a meet he is clearly relishing.

“I really enjoy running big races before championships. It tells  you where you are and tells you what you need to work on,” he said. “I know  these young guys are stepping up and they’re going to come running and pushing  you to the limits.”

Bolt is under no illusions about the task facing him on Saturday,  and also further down the road as a new generation of sprinters emerges. Weir  won the 200 in Shanghai and New York in May, and clocked 19.79 in Kingston last  month.

However, Bolt reckons he has experience, as well as speed, on his  side.

“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be challenging because  there’s always going to be younger, faster kids coming up and challenging you,” Bolt said. “I look forward to the young kids coming up and I look forward to  beating them also.

“I think I’ve learned a lot over the past few years. You learn  that some things you can’t do. When I was younger, I used to do a lot of  different things. But now I have to sacrifice a lot more … because the older  you get, the more your body reacts to certain things. So I think I’m going wiser  definitely.”

After the Areva meeting, Bolt will compete in the 100 and the  4×100 relay in London on July 26-27. That will be his final major meeting before  the worlds, which start on August 10 and where Bolt plans to win three gold  medals.

And he is still sparing a thought for 2016, and defending his  Olympic titles at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

“I want to go for Rio to be three out of three,” Bolt said. “If I  want to get there, I have to make sure every year I’m on top of things. I can’t  jump off any season. I have to make sure every year I keep pushing myself to  keep a certain standard”