Bolt raring for fresh assault on 100m, saying ‘I’m not tired’

Usain Bolt insisted yesterday that he will not be taking it easy when he returns to the track in Zurich tomorrow night – his first race since completing a golden treble at the Olympics in Beijing.

The 22-year-old, who smashed the 100 metres and 200m records at the Games and helped Jamaica break the 4x100m world record, plans to tighten his grip on world sprinting at the Weltklasse meeting.

Bolt will contest the 100m, and possibly also race in the relay, but dismissed concerns that he would be tired after the long journey from China. "Yes, it was a long trip to get here, but I'm not tired at all," Bolt said. "I've done a little training since I got here. I'm trying to get the blood pumping again in preparation for Friday evening."

The Zurich meeting is his first stop on the AF Golden League circuit which will be followed by a competition in Brussels a week tomorrow and the World Athletics final in Stuttgart on 13-14 September.

Bolt refused to be drawn on whether he can lower his world record in the Letzigrund stadium tomorrow. The sprinter's coach, Glen Mills, claimed yesterday that Bolt could have run the 100m in 9.52 seconds in Beijing if he had not slowed down to celebrate.

"If he had continued, the slowest he would have run would have been 9.52," said Mills, who added the view that Bolt would peak only in about two years' time.