ATHLETICSIT IS not just the general public who are in awe of Usain Bolt, but his rivals too, according to Dwain Chambers, who lines up against the triple world record holder here tonight.
The Briton, who spent time in Asafa Powell’s training camp in Jamaica this year, under the tutelage of the coach Stephen Francis, says Bolt is held up as a god in his sport and that his rivals talk about him in reverential tones.
“He’s an icon – just like how Bob Marley is an icon in Jamaica; he is god almost,” said Chambers. “The people in the training group I was in – Asafa Powell and those guys – they speak about him highly, because of what he’s achieved.”
Asked how any of them might beat Bolt, the 34-year-old Londoner laughed. “How do you advise someone how to best the fastest man in the world?
“First, you have to get up to his speed level, and once there you can contemplate trying to beat him. But at this stage, this guy’s confidence is higher than anyone else’s, his ability is far superior and that’s what sets him apart.”
“You have to be realistic. You’re running 10 seconds flat, say, and he’s running 9.7 seconds, so there’s already three metres between you. So you just have to work on doing the best you can.”
Chambers has run against Bolt before, at the World Championship final in 2009 when he finished sixth and the Jamaican was crowned world champion, and in the same competition in Daegu last year when the pair were matched together in the heats.
Both were disqualified for a false start – Chambers in the semi-final, Bolt in the final. The two also trained together, in 2006, in the early days of Chambers’s return to the sport.
“I was younger then,” said Chambers with a smile, reminiscing how he beat Bolt over 60m. The Jamaican was still a teenager then.
“He showed me glimmers of greatness [back then], especially because he was so tall and he was able to keep up with me until 60 metres,” Chambers said. “I could see strengths in what he could do over 200-300 metres – I saw his potential there – but when I watched him out of the blocks I could see what he was capable of. He always wanted to run the 100m but coach Mills wouldn’t let him.”
Now a global celebrity, what was Bolt like as a youngster? “The same as he is now. Casual, cool, calm and always having a joke. That’s what makes him unique, he laughs at the line when everyone else is quivering . . .”
At the Golden Spike meeting in the Czech Republic, Chambers will hope that Bolt’s raw speed – the Jamaican has run 9.82 this year – can pull him to a faster time than he has managed this season.
Chambers is pursuing the Olympic A qualifying standard of 10.18 seconds, to guarantee him eligibility for selection for the British team, but has opened his season with a disappointing 10.52. - Guardian Service
