GLASGOW – If Scots were offended by Usain Bolt, they didn’t show it yesterday as the Jamaican sprint star made his Commonwealth Games debut.
Despite a newspaper claiming that he was disparaging about Glasgow, Bolt’s introduction to a 40 000-plus crowd at Hampden Park was greeted with a roar of cheers.
“I was never worried. I was just looking forward to coming out here and showing the people,” the world’s fastest man said. “I am here to have fun and compete.”
And Bolt gave them what they wanted to see, taking the baton off Nickel Ashmeade to anchor Jamaica’s 4×100-metre team to a comfortable win in their heat as the favourites advanced to today’s final in 38.99 seconds.
Three days earlier, The Times of London quoted Bolt as saying that he was “not really” having fun in Glasgow, using an expletive and deriding the calibre of the competition featuring former British colonies.
“I would never have used that word,” Bolt said, discussing the story publicly for the first time.”
While acknowledging that he spoke to the journalist, Bolt disputed the most eye-catching comments attributed to him and insisted he was enjoying the Scottish experience. (AP)
