Usain’s undecided future
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt eyes long jump, cricket, or maybe even football for Manchester United.
LONDON, England, Wednesday August 29, 2012 – Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who claimed three gold medals at the London Olympics and gained legendary status as the “double-triple” man, has dismissed rumours that he may retire before the 2016 Rio Olympics, but said he may compete in different events in four years time.
"It's just about making different goals; there's a lot of things I can do in the sport," the world’s fastest man told Britain's Sky News television channel.
"My coach wants me to do 400 metres, I want to try long jump," said Bolt, who successfully defended his 2008 Beijing 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles in London this month, going on to win the 200 metres at the Lausanne Grand Prix in Switzerland last Thursday.
"I could always try to aim for the records again, so there's different things, but after the season we'll decide what we want to do and work on that next season," he added.
If the 26-year-old does switch to long jump, he would be following in the footsteps of US sprinter Carl Lewis, who won the Olympic long jump title as well as four sprint golds.
The Lightning Bolt's long jump notion came shortly after he disclosed that he was considering playing cricket in Australia's domestic Twenty20 Big Bash League.
The gifted athlete played junior cricket in Jamaica before turning to the track and has long voiced a passion for the game.
Just to keep everyone guessing, the sprinter has also said he would happily play football for Manchester United "if the money's right".
As if to lend weight to that statement, he created a stir at Old Trafford on Saturday when he made an appearance at the English Premier League game between Manchester United and Fulham.
Sporting his three gold medals from the recent Olympics, the tall Jamaican took to the pitch before kick-off to greet the Old Trafford crowd and was met with chants of “Sign him up, Fergie, sign him up” as he struck his signature pose for delighted fans.
Bolt, who has said that his dream was to play for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, was presented with two Manchester United jerseys imprinted with his name and the numbers 963 and 958.
An avid supporter of the famous England club, he was the guest of honour at the match and watched from the directors’ box as ManU beat Fulham to take their first points of the new season. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)