Usain Bolt has announced he will return to the Olympic Stadium in London to compete in the 100m at the Anniversary Games later this month.
The 100m and 200m world record holder, who has won six Olympic and eight world titles, said he was looking forward to returning to the scene of his three Olympic gold medals in 2012.
“London is a special place where I love to compete,” he said. “I have great memories of competing in the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2012 and in the previous Grand Prix meets in London.
“The British fans are always great and I expect there will also be a lot of Jamaican fans in the stadium. It will be amazing to put on another great show for them under the floodlights on the Friday night.”
Bolt will run on the Friday night of the three-day meeting which runs from 24-26 July. Earlier this week Mo Farah also confirmed that he would run in the 3,000m on the Friday. Greg Rutherford and Jessica Ennis-Hill are among the athletes who will compete on the Saturday afternoon, while the Sunday will be devoted to Paralympic athletes.
Bolt’s late decision to run in London was made only after George Osborne granted a tax exemption to foreign athletes competing at the event in the budget earlier this week. Usually they are liable for 50% tax on their appearance fee, plus a proportion of their worldwide earnings.
It was for this reason that Bolt did not compete in London in 2010 or 2011, or the Diamond League meeting in Glasgow last year. However he did run in the first Anniversary Games in London in 2013 – where a similar tax break was granted – winning the 100m in 9.85sec.
The Jamaican has struggled for fitness since 2013, and after missing much of last year, has raced only a handful of times this season. But while Bolt’s fastest 100m time of 10.12 sec this year puts him just 58th in the world ranking, while his 200m best of 20.13 puts him 13th in the standings, it is worth bearing in mind that the 29-year-old has raced the 200m in atrocious weather conditions in Ostrava and in New York, while his 100m race in Rio was only an early season tune up. Those close to him believe he is in condition to go much, much quicker.
Given that the world championships start at the end of August, the Anniversary Games will be a crucial test of his form and his readiness to face the controversial American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who has not been beaten since 2013.
Bolt’s decision was greeted with delight by Boris Johnson, who hailed it as the beginning of a new chapter for the Olympic Stadium.
“The opening night of the Anniversary Games has attracted the strongest field ever assembled for a single night of athletics, providing Londoners with another ‘I was there’ moment,” the mayor of London said. “The chance to see a living legend like Bolt is very rare and we are delighted to be able to welcome him to the reopening of the stadium where he so thrilled us all at the 2012 Games.
“It is a beginning of a new chapter for the stadium and there will be many more amazing nights to come – it is wonderful that we are starting in such style.”
