Athletics : Bolt to leave unmatched legacy - Coe

Usain Bolt is without question the greatest ever track athlete and the Jamaican's involvement in athletics after his retirement will be paramount to ensure its relevance to a younger generation, according to Sebastian Coe.

The IAAF president watched Bolt cruise to victory in the 100 metres at the national stadium in Kingston on Saturday, the 30-year-old bidding farewell to more than 30 000 spectators at his last meeting on home soil.
Coe, who won back-to-back 1 500 metres golds among four Olympic medals, said no other sprinter could compare to the eight-times Olympic champion, who will bow out at the world championships in London.
"When you're sitting in the pub and you’re having the discussion: who is the greatest footballer? Nobody will agree on that," Coe told Reuters in an interview.
"If you have the same discussion around golf or tennis, everybody will have different views.
"It’s a slam dunk. (Bolt) is the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen.
"If you look at the records he set, if you look at the Olympic championships he’s had -- three in a row -- I’m not sure I’m ever going to see that in my lifetime.
"So it’s a massive legacy and the most important legacy is that he has connected our sport to people who weren't traditional track and field fans, that’s the measure of the man."

Coe said the 100 and 200 metres world record holder would have a bigger challenge in life after competition.
"The second leg of his journey, the biggest challenge athletics has, the biggest challenge the Olympic movement has, is for young people to feel what we offer is relevant to their lives," the 60-year-old Briton said.
"He connects with all ages, he connects with all denominations, all cultures, all creeds, all politics and that’s a very unique breed and we need to maintain his involvement,” the IOC vice president said.
“I’m delighted that he has agreed to help us grow the sport and to help our sport remain relevant to young people."
Coe was thrilled to see Bolt make his last run on home soil.
“There’s nowhere else on this planet that I would rather be tonight, than here, this was the must see moment and I’m not just saying that as the president of the world sport, I’m saying this as a fan,” he added.
“This guy has transformed our sport, he’s connected with young people, he’s connected with people that didn’t even think they liked track and field, he’s turned them into lifelong fans and every single plaudit that he receives tonight, he’s deserving of every syllable of it."

© Reuters

Athletics : Bosman seemsto defend Comrades title

Bosman looks to defend Comrades titleThe past is the past will be the attitude with which the defending women’s Comrades champion, Charné Bosman (Nedbank Running Club), will line up to race on Sunday in Durban.

Bosman who is also supported by the High Performance Centre (HPC) has arguably been the most consistent female runner over the last two years in the Comrades having raced to a victory as well as placing second.
One of the Comrades conversation topics over the last few days has been whether Bosman could do what Frith van der Merwe did. That is to win the up and down Comrades “runs” in consecutive years. Van der Merwe did so in 1988 and 1989.
Bosman admits that it would be nice to do so but then immediately reiterated that she does not want be obsessed with any specific statistic.
“To do so would be tempting fate,” said Bosman who credits her consistency in the world’s best known ultra-race to being able to stick to her game plan.
“I see Sunday’s Comrades as starting with a clean slate. It is a new race with its own unique challenges. Nothing I have done in the past will help me to run any faster. It will be all about now and about keeping my cool no matter what the other female athletes are doing. In the Comrades you can afford to be up to ten minutes behind the race leaders in the early stages and still catch up.
“As far as I am concerned the real race starts only after 60 kilometres so it will be important not to ‘burn too many matches’ to early on.”
Bosman certainly made an effort to stick to what worked for her the previous two years which meant that she again did bulk of her serious training in and around Graskop. The only difference was that she included the God’s Window loop in her training runs so as to properly prepare to getting used to run steep up hills.
“In the past I was slightly scared of the God’s Window loop as I was not sure how my body would hold out on the climb but I surprised myself with the ease at which I managed to get to the top.”
According to Bosman she purposely decided not to check how many kilometres she clocked in her built-up to Comrades. She only did so this week out of curiosity.

Athletics : Usain Bolt skips training to mourn friend

Bolt skips training to mourn friendUsain Bolt is working hard to be fit for next Saturday's season-opening 100 metres at the Racers Grand Prix track meet after the nine-time Olympic gold medallist took time off to mourn the death of a close friend.

In an interview aired on Jamaican national television on Saturday, Bolt said he was unable to train for more than two weeks as he mourned the loss of his good friend, Germaine Mason.
The 34 year-old Jamaican-born Olympic high jump silver medallist died in a motorbike accident on April 20.
"I could not train for about two weeks, I just did not feel like training," Bolt said. "I was not ready to train for about two weeks."
The Racers Grand Prix, which is being put on by his club in his honour, will be the final time he will compete on Jamaican soil and he will compete in a 100m race to end the programme.
Bolt said he was certain he would be able to get into shape for Racers. "I have been doing this for years and we have always had setbacks so it will be OK."