Usain Bolt will seek a final flourish to bring down the curtain on another season where he confirmed himself as the world’s greatest ever sprinter and one of global sport’s most marketable superstars.
The 27-year-old Jamaican went to last month’s world championships in Moscow with nagging question marks over his form, as there had been at the London Olympics and the 2011 Daegu worlds.
Bolt promptly dispelled any concerns by claiming treble gold, winning the individual 100 and 200m crowns and then anchoring home the Jamaican 4x100m relay team.
It means that apart from his false-start blip in the Daegu 100m, Bolt has won every global sprint title on offer since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
While hinting in Brussels that the Rio Games might be his last, Bolt said he had opted for the 100m over his favoured 200m because of fatigue from his Moscow outings.
“Initially, I was going to compete in the 200m, but I felt tired after the world championships,” the 27-year-old said. “You always have to be careful not to push it too much, because there is always a risk of getting injured.
“After all, the season has been long, but I’m feeling much better than I did in Zurich (last week when he won over the same distance in 9.90).
“I’ve always run fast here. The fans give me energy and there are a lot of people coming from all over Europe to see me race here.
“The track is fast and this is a place where I always want to come back, but it will be a hard race because everybody is in it.”
Indeed, there is a cracking field for the blue riband event, featuring the world silver and bronze medallists, American Justin Gatlin and Jamaican Nesta Carter, as well as Bolt’s regular training partner Kemar Bailey-Cole, American Mike Rodgers and James Dasaolu of Britain.
They will be joined by St Kitts and Nevis veteran Kim Collins, Trinidad’s Keston Bledman and Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut.