Usain Bolt stretches away from the rest of the field to win the Olympic 200m title in 19.30 (© Getty Images)
Montego Bay, Jamaica2008 male Athlete of the Year Usain Bolt will open his 2009 season with a 400m race at the 14 February Camperdown Classic to be run at the national stadium east track.
Bolt who won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last August, will open his season two weeks later than he did last year when he started with a 400m race at the Grace Jackson/Queens Invitational which is held on the final Saturday of January.
Bolt was the toast of the Olympic Games after breaking two World Records, his 100m which he lowered to 9.69 seconds and Michael Johnson’s 12-year-old 200m standard which he won in 19.30 seconds. He was also part of the Jamaican 4x100m Relay team that broke the World Record, setting a new mark of 37.10 seconds.
Bolt’s coach Glen Mills, who confirmed the race on Wednesday, was quoted as saying Bolt was “Going to run his first race on February 14 at the Camperdown Classics, running the 400 metres, along with Ricardo Chambers and Yohan Blake."
In his opening race last year, Bolt had won the 400m at the Grace Jackson meet in 46.94 seconds.
In that same race former 100m World Record Holder Asafa Powell had run 48.76 seconds for fifth and was 10th overall.
Powell is slated to open his season at the Grace Jackson meet this year also running the 400m.
Bolt is expected to run in two other local events in February Mills also said, "He's supposed to run another 400m (race) at the University of the West Indies Invitational," set for 21 February and should run two relays at the Gibson Relays a week later.
Bolt’s handlers have not yet decided which overseas meets he will run yet leading up the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin in August. "We haven't touched (thought about) that yet."
Paul Reid for the IAAF
