Bolt to jolt Jamaicans awake from Beijing

Photo: Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt will represent Jamaica in the Men’s 100m at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

At a time when most Jamaicans are normally asleep on a Saturday morning, Usain Bolt will be jolting them all awake as many of his fans nervously await his return to the track. The man commonly referred to as ‘Lightning Bolt’ has not been seen since he registered back to back 9.87s clockings at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games in London, England last month.

Rumours of niggling injuries have not gone away and the absence of the Jamaican from his country’s training camp in Japan leading up to the World Championships, has caused a persistence of those said rumours. It has even been suggested that the legend will not defend his 200m title, all of which he has rubbished in recent interviews.

Still feelings of doubt remain among the most loyal of Bolt fans and most will not be put at ease until they see him sprint down the track somewhere around 6:20am local time, when the heats of the Men’s 100m get going.

Bolt along with the Sub-10 King Asafa Powell will represent Jamaica on day one. Injuries forced out Kemar Bailey-Cole and his replacement Nesta Carter was not accepted by the IAAF, as he was not originally named among the entrants for the event despite finishing fourth at the Jamaica trials and should have been named as the automatic replacement.

Despite this inexplicable mishap, both Bolt and Powell are expected to navigate the early rounds and give Jamaicans the world over something to cheer about as the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing China gets underway.