• Athletics

Bolt eyes sub-19 second 200m, ponders long jump

ESPN staff
August 29, 2012
Usain Bolt won the 100m-200m sprint double at London 2012 © Getty Images
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Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt believes he is capable of breaking the 19-second barrier in the 200m next season.

Bolt, who competes in the 200m in Thursday's Diamond League meeting in Zurich, is also weighing up a shot at the long jump.

While he has not yet determined his goals for next season, Bolt is determined to continue to push the boundaries - with his sights set on lowering his own world records - 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19s in the 200m.

"You never know what we might come up with. 'Let's try to run under 19 seconds, let's try to run 9.4, 9.3,"' Bolt said. "When you have world records it's kind of hard to focus solely on trying to go faster."

That said, Bolt has his sights set on defending his Olympic titles in Rio in 2016 and is wary of pushing his body too hard.

"If I can go to Rio and really defend all my titles, that would make it even greater," Bolt said. "If you push your body every year it is going to deteriorate quickly. I want to last as long as I possibly can in this sport."

Bolt, whose final competition of the season will be a 100m race in Brussels on September 7, will then consider his plans for the 2013 season with coach Glenn Mills - with the long jump and a step up to the 400m both likely to feature in discussions.

"I will be saying long jump, he'll probably be saying 400 metres," Bolt said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do next season. We have to work all that out first."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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