Usain Bolt wants to run 4x400 relay at London Olympics

[1]

Usain Bolt wants to go for four gold medals at next summer's London Olympics, adding the 4x400 meters relay to his usual schedule of three sprint events.

The defending Olympic champion in the 100, 200, and 4x100 from the 2008 Beijing Games said on Saturday that if he is fit and if Jamaica can challenge for gold, he wants a place on the long relay team too, even though he has never competed in the event at the global top level.

"If I can help to get them a gold medal, I will want to go on that team," Bolt said.

The last male athlete to win four gold medals at the Olympics was Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Despite false starting in the 100 meters at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, in August, Bolt still dominated the competition, anchoring the Jamaican team to a 4x100-meter relay world record and successfully defending his title in the 200 meters.

He said he has already started his Olympic preparations at ‘high intensity’, fully fit after ending the season with a slight Achilles tendon tweak. Last year, back problems saw him lose part the season and forced him to lower expectations.

He has always been a credible 400 runner and said on Saturday he wanted to contribute to the Jamaican team seeking to end a 60-year drought in the event.

Even though his personal best stands at 45.28 seconds, his manager Ricky Simms said he had run a 43 split with a running start in a relay in a minor Jamaica meet two years ago. The individual world record stands at 43.18.

When asked if he wanted to run in the 4x400, Bolt said: "I've expressed that to my coach. If I am fit and I think I can do it."