An official I know got me a track team suit from Japan and the necessary credentials, and I sauntered below the Olympic stadium in Rio and onto the practice track where I spotted Usain Bolt as he worked on starts a day before the four-hundred-meter relay final. I jogged over and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve already run about thirty-seven and a half seconds for the four hundred and figure we can take you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m impressed with Japan\u2019s time but guarantee it won\u2019t be good enough to compete with Jamaica when I run anchor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDon\u2019t get cocky. I\u2019ll be running anchor for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI wish you were. I doubt a white guy about sixty would be much competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOkay,\u201d I said. \u201cThat\u2019s really why I\u2019m here. Can anyone give you much competition?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cNot in the hundred or two hundred. I\u2019m the greatest, just too big and fast for everyone else. In the hundred, the little guys usually get out ahead of me but by fifty meters I\u2019m accelerating, running like they never have, while they\u2019re fading. It\u2019s worse for them in the two hundred because I run the turns so well and am almost always leading when we reach the straightaway where I have one or two more gears.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAlmost everyone expected you to do what you\u2019ve already zone, win your third straight gold medals in the hundred and two hundred. The relay\u2019s going to be the same unless someone drops the baton.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThat won\u2019t happen,\u201d Bolt says, pointing his right index finger at my nose.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYeah, it won\u2019t. What people really wonder is this: what\u2019s next for Usain Bolt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLike I say, I plan to run in the world championship next year, though probably only in the hundred. I\u2019m tired of all those training runs, especially for the two hundred, the intervals are tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMaybe you could run the four hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLong as you run the marathon first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSome of your coaches and friends tell you not to try to make a decision now about Tokyo in 2020. You love the spotlight and may want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYeah, I love exciting people. I\u2019m an entertainer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhat will you do without the affection?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBolt looks at me as if I’d belched. \u201cI\u2019ll never be without it. I\u2019m the most famous man in Jamaica and the most popular. I\u2019m famous all over the world, too. I don\u2019t need to keep running forever. One more year. I\u2019ll be thirty in a few days. My body\u2019s slower to recover. And I\u2019m not quite as fast. You don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to stick around till people start beating me, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWill you coach?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMaybe, but probably not too much. I may spend more time on business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHow\u2019s that been going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cVery well, indeed,\u201d he said, crouching to launch his famed Thunderbolt, left index finger high in the sky and by his ribs the right finger, ready to fire. <\/p>\n
\tNote: Jamaica won the four-hundred-meter relay as Usain Bolt turned on the jets to pull away from the Japanese anchor runner. Admittedly, I probably couldn\u2019t have outrun Bolt, either. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An official I know got me a track team suit from Japan and the necessary credentials, and I sauntered below the Olympic stadium in Rio and onto the practice track where I spotted Usain Bolt as he worked on starts a day before the four-hundred-meter relay final. I jogged over and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve already run…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,956,196,949],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n