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Sunday May 17, 2009

Bolt set to bounce back in Manchester

MANCHESTER: Usain Bolt believes he will prove he has recovered from foot surgery when the triple Olympic gold medallist returns to action in Manchester today.

Bolt, 22, was involved in a traffic accident which saw his car flip over two weeks ago and left the Jamaican needing to have thorns he stepped on after leaving his car removed from his feet.

The Olympic 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold medallist enjoyed a short rest period and a few days training and now insists he is 100% for the innovative Great 150m Sprint on the streets of Manchester this weekend.

Bolt insists the car crash won’t change his carefree approach to life.

“I don’t know what they mean by wake-up call because I go to training and I do what I have to do,” Bolt said. “People can say anything they want to say, that is their opinion.

“I guess people take things out of context a lot and I just have to watch what I say, but I try not to change my lifestyle because I am not going to let anyone change me.

“People come under pressure from media, they go all crazy. I am not going to let them happen to me. I am going to be myself. I am not going to change. I don’t go out a lot, I stay home.

“I was just frightened, I was not thinking about my career and then when it calmed down I started thinking about what could have happened and everything else.

“It has changed my outlook on life a little bit, you chew it over and see where you have gone wrong.”

The world 100m and 200m record holder only confirmed his fitness to race last Monday and he said he was looking forward to the event in Manchester city centre where there are hopes he can break Donovan Bailey’s fastest-ever 150m time of 14.99 over the rarely-run distance. — AFP

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