KINGSTON – The trainer of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake has raised the possibility that the two Jamaican sprinters could race each other earlier than expected next year, providing an early preview of the blue-riband events at the London Olympics.
The pair are due to line up against each other at the Jamaican Olympic trials in June and at London in August, but Glen Mills said they could square off before then, if their managers agreed and the money was right.
“That depends on the races that the managers have gotten confirmation for,” Mills told Reuters.
“Track and field is not just a sport, it’s also a business . . . so it all depends on what meets are able to afford both runners to run in the same event.”
Mills trains both Bolt and Blake, who are not only teammates in the Jamaican relay but also friends and rivals.
Bolt, 25, won the sprint double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and holds the world record for both the 100 and 200 metres, but the younger Blake has quickly emerged as his biggest threat.
Blake won the 100 at this year’s world championships in South Korea when Bolt was disqualified for a false start.
Bolt made amends by winning the 200 in the absence of Blake, who went on to set the second fastest time in history for the 200 at a meet in Belgium.
Blake’s agent Cubie Seegobin told Reuters the 21-year-old would be happy to race Bolt over either distance in the lead-up to the Olympics.
“It doesn’t matter, if we’re in the 200 and whoever lines up in the 200 and we are comfortable with our negotiations and conditions, whoever lines up lines up, it doesn’t matter to us,” Seegobin said.
“And the same thing in the 100, whoever lines up 100, that’s as long as we comfortable with our conditions, it doesn’t matter to us.” (Reuters)
