Usain Bolt to double up on final night of Melbourne’s Nitro Athletics to try and secure All Stars win
USAIN Bolt’s determination to see his All Stars outfit win the inaugural Nitro Athletics series will see him race twice in Saturday’s finale.
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USAIN Bolt’s determination to win the inaugural Nitro Athletics series will see him race twice in Saturday’s finale.
The fastest man in the world will step out in the 150m in a head-to-head showdown with Queensland youngster Alex Hartmann before anchoring the Bolt All-Stars mixed relay team in the last and deciding event.
There was a controversial end to Thursday night with Australia disqualified in the relay following a protest from Bolt that saw the teams swap positions on the points table.
Bolt’s All-Stars have won the two opening nights but with double-points up for grabs on the final night it gives Australia a chance to come over the top.
A setback for the locals’ chances was the draw of the power plays — which gives double points for specific events — with Bolt pulling out the 150m.
“There’s 200 points right there,” an excited Bolt said after the draw. “I’m feeling good so I was like. ‘Why not (run twice)?’.”
“I have noticed that at the start of every night we are so far down the table and last night we got lucky.
“I feel like we need to get to the top quicker so we don’t have a problem.”
The eight-time Olympic champion owns the 150m world record of 14.35 sec which he set on a specifically made straight track at the Manchester City Games in 2009.
After the relay debacle Australian coach Nic Bideau has overhauled the team with 400m star Morgan Mitchell called in for what will be her third event of the evening.
Hurdler Michelle Jenneke will start off with Mitchell running the back straight, Hartmann the bend and then young gun Jack Hale bringing it home.
More than 13,000 people have attended the opening two nights and with 8000 expected on Saturday at a sold-out Lakeside Stadium, the impact of Nitro Athletics has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The main cheer leader is the star of the show with Bolt bullish about the concept going forward.
“For me the next step is globalisation, all around the world, we want to make track and field exciting,” he said.
“From my perspective Nitro is just brilliant, I have never been in a situation where I have had so much fun at a track meet ever.”
Bolt, who has a financial stake in the series, is contracted to compete in the Nitro for another two years in Melbourne.
The world has been taking notice with IAAF president Sebastian Coe flying in for the final two nights of the series.
He wants to collaborate with Athletics Australia to take the concept around the globe.
“I saw engagement, I saw fun and laughter and that is what the sport has been missing for a long time,” Coe said.
“Unless we innovate we’re going to become less and less relevant and we can’t afford to do that.
“Hats off to everyone sitting here who drove this through some really difficult times and kept the faith
“It’s exciting, it’s bringing people into the sport who naturally under the current format wouldn’t gravitate to it.”
Australia’s strength has been in the distance events with Jeff Riseley and Heidi See selected for the three-minute challenge tonight with team captains Ryan Gregson and Genevieve LaCaze in the elimination mile.
Originally published as Usain Bolt to double up on final night of Melbourne’s Nitro Athletics to try and secure All Stars win
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