• World Athletics Championships

Bolt chases sporting immortality

ESPN staff
August 18, 2013
Usain Bolt won 200m gold at the World Championships on Saturday © Getty Images
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Usain Bolt has revealed that his desire to be remembered as a "sporting great" spurred him on to gold in the 200m at the World Championships.

Bolt, who is a six-time Olympic champion, ran 19.66 seconds at the Luzhniki Stadium to secure a seventh world title.

"This year I said I wanted to be one of the greats like [footballers] Pele, Maradona and [basketball legend] Michael Jordan," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

"If I want to be remembered I have to pile the golds on."

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After also taking gold in the 100m earlier this week, Bolt can make it eight world titles to tie himself with Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix if Jamaica are victorious in the 4x100m on Sunday.

Bolt is the world record holder of both the 200m, having run 19.19s at the 2009 championships, and the 100m, with a time of 9.58s which was also set four years ago.

But he admits it is getting harder to maintain his dominance in the sport. Bolt said: "I think the door is getting tighter. Next season I have to try my hardest to stay injury free.

"My goal is to defend my titles at the next Olympics as it hasn't been done before by anyone, and this World Championships is a stepping stone towards that goal."

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