Usain Bolt backs CAS decision to ban Russian track and Field athletes from Rio Olympic Games

USAIN Bolt says Russia’s track and field team being banned from the Olympics sends a powerful message that should scare other cheats.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt speaks at a press conference in London

USAIN Bolt has heaped praise on the Court of Arbitration for Sport after their landmark decision to kick Russia’s track and field athletes out of the Olympic Games.

Fifteen minutes late for his press conference in London, Bolt posted a picture to his Snapchat social media account of a doping control form by way of apology.

Drugs testers had knocked on his door at 10.25am, it confirmed. When he did belatedly show up at the hotel in central London and with dozens of photographers snapping furiously, the most recognisable man in sport held his arm aloft gesturing to a plaster where his blood had been taken.

Less than an hour earlier, a ban preventing the entire Russian track and field team going to the Rio Olympics had been upheld by CAS and his message was clear — I am clean even if some in my sport are not.

Bolt praised the hard line athletics has taken on Russian drugs cheats after a systematic doping program in the country was exposed.

“If you’re cheating, I always feel like it’s a good message to show that if you cheat or you go against the rules then we’re going to take serious action,” he said.

“Because doping violations in track and field are getting really bad.

“This (decision) will scare a lot of people.”

The IAAF, athletics’ world governing body, has led the way by issuing an Olympic ban on all Russian athletes, with many sports now expected to follow their lead.

Press Conference for #MullerAnniversaryGames in London tomorrow pic.twitter.com/FenGL1WYT0

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 21, 2016

Adopting a more serious demeanour than usual, Bolt was called upon again to address the various issues afflicting not only him, but the sport in general.

“I prefer to leave it to the big guys,’ he said, smiling, when asked to stray into the world of sport politics.

“It’s just a sideshow, I focus on winning.”

Bolt went on to dismiss concerns that the injury which forced his withdrawal from the Jamaican trials last month would have any bearing on his ability to defend his three Olympic titles in Rio.

Convicted drugs cheat Justin Gatlin heads the 100m world rankings this year, as he did at the same stage last season before Bolt narrowly edged him to gold at the Beijing World Championships.

Bolt posted a form proving he’d just had a doping test before he addressed the media

But Bolt said Gatlin had crumbled under the pressure of his presence and insisted he will defeat him even more convincingly this time.

“I think I’m definitely a tough competitor, mentally,’ said Bolt. “Last year Gatlin was just not ready.

“It was the first time he was actually being chased. He was usually the one who was chasing or he was winning by far. He had a tough competitor — me — and it was hard for him.

“This year it’s not going to be the same, I’m in much better shape, so I won’t leave it to the last second.”

On the even of his Olympic swansoing, Bolt laid out his goal for Rio.

“This is my final Olympics and it’s a big one, this is where I need to make the big marks,’ he said.

“Trying to break the 200m world record is what I’m focused on and the 100m will help me go on to that.”

Originally published as Usain Bolt backs CAS decision to ban Russian track and Field athletes from Rio Olympic Games