Greene hedges bets on sprint battles
Print Edition
IN-FORM American Justin Gatlin should beat Usain Bolt to win both the sprints at the world championships but it would be foolhardy to write off the Jamaican, three-time world 100-meter world champion Maurice Greene said yesterday.
Bolt has dominated the 100 and 200 at major championships since winning both in world-record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, only a false start in the short sprint final at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea, preventing him from a clean sweep.
Joint problems have hampered the 29-year-old’s season, however, and he returns to the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the 100 heats today with best times of 9.87 and 20.13 seconds for each sprint.
Gatlin, although he has yet to go head-to-head with Bolt this year and has beaten the Jamaican only once in seven attempts over the 100, has not been beaten in either sprint for two years.
The 33-year-old owns the best times of the year in both events with a personal best of 9.74 in 100 and 19.57 in the 200.
“Right now, if I have to go by what’s happening right now you would say Justin is going to win,” Greene said.
“But the biggest problem is you never know what Usain is going to come out with because, you have to remember, he’s been where nobody has been before.
“So who knows if he’s going to come back with something like that? It’s very well possible so you can never count him out. Bolt don’t ever run a lot. It doesn’t matter if he’s run four races or 12 races, you’re gonna get a race.”
The sprint showdowns between Bolt, who has never failed a drugs test, and Gatlin, who has served two suspensions for using banned substances, have been billed as battles for the soul of the sport.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
