Triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt say he's not just the fastest man on Earth - but also the cleanest By Ian StaffordUsain Bolt repeats the phrase again and again as he addresses the supposed threat to his global sprint dominance emanating from a proven drugs cheat back in Britain. He is sitting on a balcony overlooking Kingston, Jamaica, with the Caribbean directly behind him and the April sun high in the blue, cloudless sky.
'Project Bolt,' he says, as if it is a punchline to a joke. 'Project Bolt,' he repeats, referring to the mission that Dwain Chambers has set himself to derail the triple Olympic champion and world record holder.
He's number one: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is in relaxed form as he talks about 'Project Bolt' - while trying not to laugh
By rights, Bolt should be furious with Chambers. Not only has the shamed British athlete been mouthing off recently that when the pair trained together in 2006 the Briton was taking out the Jamaican on a regular basis on the track, but his positive drugs test has added to the world's suspicion that anybody fast these days must be taking drugs.
But while the muscle flexing continues in Britain, everything is chilled in Jamaica. The 22-year-old star of the Beijing Olympics may be back in full training but he is still enjoying life, as his appearances at the Jamaican Girls and Boys Championships at the National Stadium yesterday, and DJ-ing at his own party at the capital's famous Quad club late last night, can testify. He had never heard the Project Bolt phrase before, and he is doing his best to stifle his laughter.
'If I train and I'm fit, then there's no worries,' he says, a grin all over his face. 'I compete, I win. People can say what they like. Let's see what happens when we race. I don't need to concern myself about anyone else.'
Dwain Chambers is setting his sights on Bolt as the Brit looks to get in the athletics headlines - for the right reasons
By anyone else he means his countryman Asafa Powell and America's Walter Dix and Tyson Gay. No mention of Chambers. But surely he would have noticed what the British sprinter achieved at the European Indoor Championships in Turin last month? Bolt shakes his head. 'Indoors and outdoors are totally different,' he said, dismissively. 'I'm not concerned about what people do indoors. I'm not concerned what people do outdoors either, for that matter. I'm the fastest man in the world and I know that this means I should win every race.'
Therein lies the key to Bolt's outlook in a sport whose credibility all but depends on his speed, his character and, above all else, his clean reputation. He is unbothered by what else goes on in the sprints, just as long as he keeps leaving everyone else in his slipstream.
While Chambers is talking the talk about Bolt, the Olympic champion was not even aware that the British No 1 cannot compete in any of the big European meetings because of his drugs offences.
'Oh really?' he asks, with surprise in his voice. 'I'd quite like to race him before the World Championships in Berlin in August but if that's the rules, that's the rules.'
Does he not mind the fact that Chambers will most probably be racing against him at the worlds, though? 'Nah,' he says. 'You see, I'm not like other athletes. I don't know much about what's going on. I'm just not that interested.
'All I care about is winning. I'm not saying it's good that there are athletes who have taken drugs, of course, but when they line up against me, clean or not, they are there to be beaten. That goes for Chambers, too. It's irrelevant what he's done as far as I'm concerned. There have been times in the past when I've looked across at athletes and wondered, but then I just go and beat them. It's the same with Chambers.'
Still it is because of Chambers, and Tim Montgomery, and Justin Gatlin - and Marion Jones - that suspicion is rife in sprinting. Bolt's case for being clean is plain. For a start, he is close to being a physical freak in sprinting terms. He reached 6ft 5in by the age of 15 and has a seven-foot stride that carries him across 100m in only 41 steps - five fewer than Powell, the previous world record-holder.
Bolt destroyed the opposition in the final of the 100 metres in Beijing before going on to win gold in the 200 and 4x100 metres
He also had a wealth of impressive marks to his name long before he became a global household figure in Beijing, including becoming the youngest-ever world junior champion at 15, and the youngest sub-20sec 200m runner in history, which he did aged 17. And, finally, he believes he is tested more than just about any other athlete, even back in Jamaica, where the IAAF compensate for the island's lack of an effective out of competition antidoping programme.
'Once last year I was tested at the training track and then, half-an-hour later when I got home, there were more testers waiting for me there,' said Bolt. 'I was tested seven times in the week running up to the 100m in Beijing. I am tested all the time and I have no problems with this at all. It proves I'm clean and I'm happy to do whatever it takes to help improve the image of my sport.
'You see, I can understand why some people who don't know my background, and all the marks I achieved before the Olympics, place some doubt on what happened in Beijing. I really do.
'It's going to take time before people can trust the sport again. I am aware of the responsibility on my shoulders, and of the fact that after what I achieved in China my sport needs me to carry the burden. But I believe we've turned the corner. I don't think anyone's taking drugs now, but if it takes hundreds of tests over the next few years, then so be it.'
If Bolt's confidence makes sorry reading for the likes of Chambers and company, the fact that he stumbled into the 100m is hardly going to make them feel any better.
Long way for Chambers to go: Bolt poses next to his world record breaking 200 metres time in Beijing
'I only did it to avoid running the 400m,' he said. 'I can take or leave the 100m, if I'm honest. The 200m is my main event. I might even go for the 400m next year, although I don't like the look of the training. Then the 100m would have to go.' It was in the
100m final in Beijing that Bolt smashed the world record with a time of
9.69sec, all the more astonishing because he slowed before crossing the line and waved his arms around in celebration. By continuing at the same speed, he could have recorded
9.55. 'That would have been a stupid thing to do because you earn money for breaking world records, and I can do it bit by bit now,' he said.
He laughs at this, not entirely serious. 'The truth is I had no idea I'd set the world record until I was doing my victory lap. I was looking away from the clock when I crossed the line and had to be told my time.
'I didn't set out to break the world record. I just wanted to win the race. That's all I ever do. It was a fast track and I was in the best shape of my life.
'That's why the record fell, that and the fact that I was very relaxed and not in the slightest bit nervous. I've not been nervous since the world junior championships, when I placed my spikes on the wrong feet. After that experience, nothing has got to me.'
There is a lot more to come, too. Bolt has this masterplan to run for a further 10 years.
'I want to become recognised as the greatest athlete in the history of athletics,' he said.
'Following up from what I did in Beijing won't be easy and I know I'm the man everyone's gunning for, but I like the sound of the challenge and I'm ready for it.
'Besides, it's obvious the world record will go again in the 100m this season - and then there's the matter of the World Championships to win.
'I'm already working on some new moves for Berlin. I'm trying to put on a spin on the sport and make it enjoyable for fans to watch, so I'll be adding to my lightning bolt sign, hand signals and dancing by the summer.
'Backing up last year is very important to me at the World Championships, but I know I'm fast. Hey, I'm the fastest man in the world.'
Bolt considers that last statement for a while before delivering his happy verdict: 'Now that's awesome!'
