Usain Bolt makes case for the defence amid positive drugs tests

USAIN Bolt has never failed a drug test, but today he felt compelled to present his case. The conclusion: you can believe what you see.

THE Usain Bolt press conference follows a set path. Slouching in his seat with charismatic apathy, he states that he wants to play for Manchester United and is then asked if he wants to do the long jump, 400m or decathlon. There is also routine talk of legends. This time it was different. This time it was serious.

Bolt has never failed a drug test but, as Kim Collins, the veteran sprinter, said yesterday, everybody is now judged. Unbridled suspicion has followed the positive tests of Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Sherone Simpson, and so Bolt willingly made the case for the defence. The conclusion: you can believe what you are seeing.

So instead of the knockabout fare to promote the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games, starting tonight in the London Olympic Stadium, we got stirring theatre. Bolt asked a journalist: "How long have people been following Usain Bolt? If you've been following me since 2002, you would know I've been doing phenomenal things since I was 15."

He then listed them. "I've broken every record there is in every event I've ever done. For me I've proven myself since I was 15." He was "living out my dream" and was "always going to be great".

This nature of the questioning might be termed the Chris Froome effect. In a sport with a history of cheats, the lay cynic asks how can the best be clean? The Tour de France winner was vindicated by an anti-doping body this week, and Bolt must wish somebody would do the same for him.

Yet whereas Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the women's Olympic 100m champion from Jamaica and Carmelita Jeter, her American rival, walked out of a press conference last week when doping reared its head, the men's champion at least faced every question with good humour. "Ah, I thought you were going to ask me a normal question," he grinned at one inquisitor.

"I was made to inspire people and made to run," he said. "I was given a gift and that's what I do. I know I'm clean, so I'm just going to continue using my talent. I'm not going to stress about it. I'm going to do what I've got to do."

He was candid too. He admitted that he does not read the labels of the vitamin supplements he takes, leaving that to his trusted team. He also revealed that he had been in touch with Powell, the man who preceded him as the 100m world record-holder.

"I just had one [BlackBerry Messenger] conversation with him," he said. "I told him I'm sorry what's going on with him. I just told him to stay strong and hopefully everything will work out." The B samples are still to be returned, but Powell has tested positive for a stimulant and is unlikely to get more than a one-year ban.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, another Jamaican sprint legend who has tested positive this summer, will get a maximum six months. The blanket tarring by the catch-all drug-cheat tag has led some to suggest the banned list should be split between minor stimulant and hard drugs such as steroids.

That was where Bolt was more equivocal. "I don't look at it in detail," he said. "If it's banned, you just have to try and avoid it. They make the rules and I follow them."

Nor would he be drawn on the issue of four-year bans, as promoted by the likes of Lord Coe and set for ratification by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November.

"I can't determine how harsh the rules should be. As an athlete I just have to be very careful. I don't have a problem - I work hard and they (his team) make sure I'm on the straight and narrow. Drugs is harsh on sport. But the fact is you have WADA, IAAF - they are the people who decide."

Bolt knows he has to be careful with what he says. Yesterday, certain news outlets reported that he had said he was not surprised by the failed tests when he actually said he was.

This follows reports this summer that he disliked Mario Balotelli, when he really said he did not like it when the Italy striker scored against United.

To eradicate any confusion he repeated that he was clean. Talk is cheap in sport, but given he is the only one of the four fastest men in history not to have failed a test, it was worth saying anyway.

He feels sorry for Jamaica, whose status as the world's sprint capital is being tainted by the tests and the innuendo. "We're very proud of our athletes because we brought glory to the country, so it's kind of rough," he said. "I just have to continue working hard and bring glory to my country."

The IAAF released figures yesterday that showed athletes from Jamaica were the fourth most tested last year after those from Kenya, Russia and the US that a dozen Jamaican sprinters have served bans or failed tests since 2008 also suggests nobody is brushing the problem under the carpet.

Sadly, James Dasaolu was a bit-part player in all this. Last month, he ran 9.91sec, faster than Bolt has managed this year. Bolt said he has taken note but was ready. Their duel tonight and at the World Championships next month will be intriguing, but it no longer matters whether Bolt wins. What matters is whether the event still matters.

The Times