Updated: August 23, 2008, 6:02 PM ET
Bolt credits hard work for success in Beijing
BEIJING -- Hard work. Having fun. A fast track.
No doping. Simple as could be, that's Usain Bolt explanation for his unprecedented, breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics. "I've been tested four times [in China], before I even started running. These guys took urine tests and blood tests. After every event final, I've been tested," the Jamaican said Saturday, one of his three gold medals dangling from a red ribbon around his neck. "I've been tested out of competition so many times I lost track." Bolt broke world records in winning the 100 meters (9.69 seconds), 200 meters (19.30) and 400-meter relay (37.10), something no man had done at an Olympics. None of the finals was even close, and Bolt began his celebration in the dash before it was done, stretching out his arms with palms up, then slapping his chest. "I came out here prepared," he said. "I worked hard -- that's all I can say. ... I worked hard to get here. It wasn't easy at all. It may look easy, but it was hard." Bolt wasn't merely good -- he was stunning. Too good to be true? Don Anderson, head of Jamaica's Beijing delegation, said about half the country's athletes had been drug-tested since arriving in China. "Therefore, all the records that have been broken by Usain Bolt and all the gold medals that have been won by [other Jamaicans] have come after extensive testing" by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Association of Athletics Federations, Anderson said. "That, as far as I am concerned, is more than adequate proof."
I've been tested out of competition so many times I lost track.
--Usain Bolt
I won't change that. And I don't see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me. ... I'll stay the way I am. That's my personality.
--Bolt on his post-race celebrations
"I won't change that. And I don't see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me," Bolt said. "I'll stay the way I am. That's my personality."
Now it's off to less-important meets for Bolt, who said he'll run in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium, before calling it a season. European meet organizers have offered more than $100,000 should Bolt win his races in new record times. Other athletes can take some solace in this: Bolt said he definitely won't add the long jump to his repertoire, a la Carl Lewis, and might only occasionally run the 400 meters, the race his coach tried to steer him to instead of the 100. Diack said he ranks Bolt's Olympics above Lewis' four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Games -- the 100, 200, 400 relay and long jump -- because Lewis only broke one world record, in the relay. "I'll still train hard and just work hard to stay on top," Bolt said, "because I'm on top now and I want to try to stay there as long as I can."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

