Why Usain Bolt must be drug-free

Usain Bolt has reignited the fascination of the 100m sprint. 5.2million UK viewers tuned in to BBC2 to see him smash the 100m record on Sunday in a time of 9.58sec.

4m returned to their seats to see him demolish his own 200m best on Thursday in a time of 19.19 – beating the record despite running into a headwind.

Usain Bolt has rewritten the record books five times in five championship finals. It appears he can simply run as fast as he wants.

There is one problem with people who break records and that is the question about whether they are clean or not. Drugs has become a major problem in spriting and there is a grim past. Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones and Dwain Chambers were all found out to be cheats.

It has not just been athletics as there have been many cases in Major League Baseball and Cycling.

Of course Usain Bolt insists that he is au naturale. He is a result of mother nature and not pharmaceuticals.

He admits that it is fair for people to question his sprint times due to the history of the sport

Bolt declared: “I don’t get offended because I know year after year people run fast and then test positive, so I know it’s going to be in the sport.

“I get tested all the time, I train hard, I’m legit. I’m trying to clean it up to let people know that you don’t have to take something to run fast.

“If I am constantly doing that then maybe one day people will stop asking the questions.”

We want to believe him and although we have no reason not to there is still an air of uncertainty hanging over his staggering records.

The world desperately wants to believe Bolt. The very future of athletics depends on it.

For if this 23-year-old showman is corrupt then the sport is dead. Unfair though it may seem, it’s credibility would never recover.

That is how much is resting on Bolt. That is how great a responsibility he carries on those broad shoulders.

Athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, recognises this, volunteering confirmation on Wednesday that all drugs tests on finalists in the 100m had come back negative.

But sadly we have been here so many times with sprinters in the past.

Bolt added: “I keep telling people I am clean but if you don’t believe me I can’t do anything. What else can I say to convince people than just run and stay clean? The fact is that I get tested all the time.”

He has not been helped by the drugs controversy which led to five Jamaican athletes, including training partner Yohan Blake, being withdrawn from these championships.

When in an interview with Gay they were asked about drugs with the 3rd question:

“Normally it comes as the last question of the interviews,” said Gay, who, unlike Bolt, usually doesn’t say much.

Most people did not expect that Bolt, at 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm), could achieve a fast enough start to become competitive at 100 metre sprint. Bolt’s coach, Glen Mills, said himself that Bolt should focus on just the 200m.

Bolt was not discouraged. He knew there was History to be made.

Bolt knew history beckoned, though. He worked to improve. He did. Look at the results. Many analysts have come to the conclusion that Bolt, just 22, stil hasn’t mastered his form out of the starting blocks. So maybe the best is yet to come.

“Awesome,” is the assessment of fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, who finished third in the 100 at the World Championships. “Usain showed us it’s possible. He proved it and put it on another level.”

Gay ran a personal best in the 100. It wasn’t enough. Still, he smiled.

“I’m really happy Usain Bolt won the record,” Gay said. “I know that might sound strange, but I knew it was humanly possible for someone to run that fast.”

What they saw prompted former record holder Michael Johnson to gasp “unbelievable”.

But it is believable according to Bolt.

As he prepares to go for a third gold medal in today’s sprint relay it is down to him to keep it that way.

The truth is that if Bolt’s not clean then all credibility of the sport will be gone. It seems that steroid users are always one step ahead and so it’s probable that some athletes are abusing.

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