Usain Bolt: Don’t say I’m back, I was never gone

Jamaican legend is promising new theatricals, and a gradual return to blistering form, in the Bahamas this weekend. He tells Matt Majendie how 2015 will all be about the ‘triple gold’

Usain Bolt celebrates after anchoring Jamaica to 4x100m relay gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year (Getty Images)

Usain Bolt is back –though the world’s fastest man is adamant he never went away. Last season was one to forget, Bolt no longer the centre of attention to the extent that his rivals sharpened the knives, the critics suggesting he was past his prime.

Normally unflappable to a T, he was clearly hurt by the barbs and he takes to the track today for his first competition of note this season, the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas, with a point to prove.

Asked if he thought people were disrespectful in a year when surgery to correct a hamstring injury last March effectively wiped out his season – bar a cameo role at the Commonwealth Games – he said: “I definitely think so.”

He added: “One of the things is that when people talk about me I want to talk out but I’m going to keep my calm, not be aggressive and be nice to everybody. But they’ll push the wrong button one day so we’ll see what happens.”

So what, bar the calm exterior, can the world expect from athletics’ eternal showman in 2015? Is Bolt back?

“For me, I was never gone. It was just that I had a bad season, like any athlete trying to regain the form that I need to get back. A lot of people talked about that Bolt was gone but I was never gone. I need to get back in shape and I’ll be all right.”

The electrical activity in the skies above Paradise Island in Nassau were perhaps an ominous warning for his rivals of what lies ahead in terms of the theatrics Bolt so likes to perform on track. Heavy downpours have fallen for the past 24 hours and thunder and lightning are predicted over the weekend, as befits the Bahamians, who like to claim that it was they who first coined the nickname “Lightning Bolt”.

That Bolt has a point to prove at all is rather laughable. With six Olympic titles and eight world golds to his name, he has enjoyed an unparalleled period of dominance in athletics; if he briefly disappeared off the radar last season, that could be considered a rare blip.

The next two days will be the first chance for his rivals to assess where Bolt is on the recovery road and whether, after the disappearing act of last season, he is the same formidable athlete he professes still to be. His full intention is that normal order should be resumed in 2015.

The triple in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m is his target at the World Championships in Beijing this summer, likewise at next year’s Olympics. But he is keen to push the boundaries further still, potentially lowering his world sprint records of 9.58 and 19.19seconds, set six years ago in Berlin.

“The triple gold’s the focus,” he says. “I think this year in Beijing I have to surpass what I’ve done. I want to break the meet records and maybe even break world records. I’m looking forward to it.”

The one caveat is his body, which has crumbled and been repaired and remains in the capable hands of the German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt. Bolt is adamant the hamstring is fixed, he is in constant contact with Bayern Munich’s former team doctor and has had no injury concerns other than occasional tightness in his muscles.

The swagger is back – not that it was ever wholly gone – and Bolt is confident of blazing a trail in both today’s 4x100m and the 4x200m tomorrow. There is relief too, but he is adamant it is not relief at being back in the spotlight. “Just not to run was the most frustrating part,” he says. “I’ve learned that injury comes with the sport and I have to remind myself of that. The hard part is to work hard and get back to the point where I once was.”

There is the proviso, though, that he will not necessarily be at his quickest straight away. “The fact I didn’t run a lot last season, I think there’ll be a lot of cobwebs. As I get through more races I’ll get better. So I think the more I run, the smarter and quicker I’ll get. Hopefully I’ll get right back.”

Bolt has been written off before but the confidence is undiminished. The suggestion Jamaica might lose either relay race does not even garner a response, merely a quizzical raising of the Bolt eyebrows. The American line-up for the 4x100m raises eyebrows too: Tyson Gay still relatively recently back from his ban, Justin Gatlin having twice served suspensions and Mike Rodgers with a previous doping violation.

Bolt recently questioned the length of Gay’s ban but as to the legality of those lining up against him today he was more diplomatic. “You can’t worry about the past, you have to move on, look to the future and just get it done. I’ve talked about the ban that Tyson got. I think it was unfair to the sport and sent the wrong message. Justin Gatlin got his ban and served it, so for me it’s not an issue. He’s a great competitor. He talks a lot and says a lot and makes the sport interesting.”

In a sport that has been addled by doping allegations across the globe, Bolt remains the great hope, the athlete to believe in. Once more, he offers the positive headlines. Quite how he fares this weekend will be another matter but he has promised all the usual pre- and post-race theatrics, without divulging what they will involve. “You just wait and see.”