Usain Bolt said he will be ready to reclaim the mantle as the world's fastest man in the upcoming world championship in Moscow after "confidence-boosting" runs at the Jamaica trials.
Reuters reported that Bolt was beaten by American Justin Gatlin in the Rome Diamond League 100 meters last month after returning from a hamstring injury. Another American, Tyson Gay has proven to be the world's top sprinter this year with a world-leading time in the 100-meter run at 9.75 ahead of Gatlin and Bolt. Gay also has a world's best 19.76 in the 200-meter run since Oslo, according to Reuters.
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Bolt, though, told Reuters that after winning the 100 in the Jamaica world championship trials in June, he feels like he's returning to the form that made him a world record holder. Reuters said Bolt was given a wildcard entry in the 200 by Jamaica as its defending champion.
"The trials helped me to get a lot of runs, to define where I should be," Bolt said to Reuters at a news conference ahead of a meet Saturday in Paris. "And after the trials, I felt more confident. It felt great to run and actually accelerate at the end."
Gay, though, continued to impress this summer, running the second fastest 100 meters this year at a Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Guardian reported on Thursday.
The Guardian wrote that Gay beat Bolt's Jamaican running mate Asafa Powell and fellow American Michael Rodgers in the race.
"It felt good," Gay told The Guardian about the race. "It's all about consistency and staying healthy because that's the key to success at this level. Sometimes you wish you could take advantage of the wind a little more but at the same time I felt good."
In a Washington Post article Friday, Bolt said his confidence should not be mistaken for him underestimating Gay.
"I never said I’m invincible," Bolt said in the Washington Post article. "When I’m in great shape and I’m at the top of my game, I’m very confident that no one can beat me because I know what I’m capable of. But you can be beaten. There’s times when you get injuries, there’s times when you’re off your game. There’s so many different scenarios that can happen."
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