Usain Bolt has hinted his final race will be at the World Championships in London in 2017, while the Jamaican also plans on focusing more on the 200m than the 100m.
Glimpses of Bolt are becoming rarer. Glasgow 2014 was his only outing of 2014, although there will be races to follow on the Diamond League circuit. There were even fears that this might be the last time he competes on British soil.
But if tax breaks remain in place as they were last summer, he will return to the scene of his London 2012 triumphs for the World Championships in 2017 at the Olympic Stadium, which he hinted might well be where he brings an end to his career.
The Olympics in Rio de Janeiro – at the carnival capital of the world – would be a more fitting place to call time on a remarkable career but Bolt hinted that Stratford in 2017 could be his swansong.
“I might just go on to 2017 but I think that will be my last championships,” Bolt said.
He might make it look like a stroll in the park but, after a winter struggling with a foot injury, he insisted it was anything but: “The training is not so easy. I remember asking MJ [Michael Johnson] when the time came for him to retire and he said, ‘When there’s nothing else to achieve’. I hate losing, so that’s when I will retire.”
Bolt, though, may never race in the 100m again, as he wants to concentrate on running a sub-19 second time in the 200m.
Bolt, who will turn 28 later this month, set the 200m world record of 19.19 seconds in Berlin five years ago, the same championships where he posted his 100m world record of 9.58 seconds.
He added: “I think I’ve done enough in the 100. I know people want to see me run fast in the 100 but I love my 200 and I want to do something special for myself. So for me, my main aim is the 200.
“The world record can keep going down. You never know who’s going to show up next and dominate.
“I’ve said I want to run sub 19. That’s one of my biggest goals and my biggest dreams, so I’m definitely going to be training hard and seeing what I can do.”
