Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt insisted on Thursday that he was a clean athlete and fans could trust him despite recent failed drugs test by the Jamaican’s sprint rivals Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.
“I was made to inspire people,” Bolt told a London news conference ahead of his return to the Olympic track on Friday, when he will run in the 100-metres at the Diamond League Anniversary Games.
“I was given a gift, I know I’m clean. For me it happens [failed dope tests], I’m not going to stress about it,” added Bolt, the 100m and 200m world record holder.
Bolt’s compatriot Powell, the former 100m world record holder, tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine at Jamaica’s national trials last month and is still waiting to discover if his ‘B’ sample confirms the original finding. United States sprinter Gay tested positive for the same stimulant in May.
Bolt, 27 next month, refused to condemn either of his rivals. “There’s a lot of details to be discussed, I’m just waiting to see what’s going on,” he said.
“I spoke to Asafa, it’s tough, it’s hard. I told him to stay strong,” said Bolt, who in London last year repeated his Beijing Games feat of winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m Olympic gold medals.
“In life you learn anything is possible. You have to be very careful as an athlete, there are a lot of things on the banned list.”
Asked how dejected athletics fans could ‘trust’ him, Bolt replied: “How long have you been following Usain Bolt? “2008? If you’ve been following me since 2002 you know I’ve been doing phenomenal things since I was 15. I’ve broken every record there is to break. I’m living out my dream. I’ve shown throughout the years I’ve always been great.”
As for British athletics great Sebastian Coe’s call to increase standard doping bans from two years to four years, which would see athletes who failed a drugs test miss the next Olympic Games, Bolt said: “I don’t make the rules, I can’t determine how hard things should be.
“That’s whey we have the IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations] and Wada [the World Anti-Doping Agency].”
Another Jamaican athlete, Sherone Simpson, has also tested positive for the same stimulant as Powell.
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