Darren Campbell is now a Bolt believer
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| Published on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 |
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By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com
LONDON, England: Former Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell of Great Britain says he has joined the growing group of devotees who believe that the gallant display from sprint sensation Usain Bolt in Beijing is definitely bona fide, after initially casting doubts over the Jamaican's performances.
Like many, Campbell, a member of the British team that won gold in the 4x100m in Athens 2004, also had Bolt’s world record runs on reservations, especially after watching the way he cruised to the Olympic 100m title.
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Darren Campbell
AFP PHOTO |
But after reflecting on the 22-year-old's clean sheet from his many drug tests and sizing that up with the fact the Jamaican had a phenomenal youthful career, Campbell said he is now a firm believer of the towering sprinter’s remarkable 2008 season.
“He has been drug-tested and there have been no problems. I have to say I’m a believer,” Campbell, a lead contributor to Sky Sports Living for Sport wrote.
“I had the same thoughts as everyone else when he easily won the 100m in Beijing, because we’ve been let down in the past. But what I can say about Usain is that biomechanically I’ve never seen anyone that tall run like that.
“He also has some history. People in athletics had heard about him when he was breaking records at 14 and 15, so we knew about his talent,” he added.
Bolt resurrected the sprinting world at the Olympics last summer when he blasted his way to three gold medals, including world records of 9.69 seconds in the 100 and 19.30 seconds in the 200m.
He also ran the third leg on the Jamaican 4x100m sprint relay quartet that clocked a 37.10secs world record to remove a long standing world mark.
For his outstanding campaign last season, Bolt walked away with several accolades, including the IAAF World and International Sports Press Athlete of the Year.
The Jamaican best male athlete in 2008 also picked up the BBC Overseas Sports Personality award, as well as winning the Eurosport Personality of the year and French magazine, L'Equipe Champion of Champions 2008 awards. | | | | Reads : 916 | | | |
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