Athletics

I need more races, admits sluggish Bolt

ESPN staff

August 18, 2014

Bolt wins in Rio

Usain Bolt collected yet another victory in the 100m, this time on Rio's Copacabana beach - but the six-time Olympic champion admits he needs to compete in more races in order to reach full fitness.

The Jamaican won the Mano a Mano sprint in a time of 10.06 seconds, beating Britain's Mark Lewis Francis and Brazil's Jefferson Liberato in the four-man competition.

Bolt missed nine weeks of training after surgery on his left foot in March and only ran in the 4x100m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the beginning of August.

Running in his first 100m race since winning in the Diamond League meeting in Brussels last September, Bolt says he has plenty of work to do for the rest of the year and in the build-up to the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Downplaying his win, Bolt said he felt "sluggish", adding: "I had a poor start but I regained some of my poise later in the race. I felt a bit heavy, and I need to compete in more races... I will be in better shape after that."

Bolt had earlier confirmed he had delayed his retirement by a year after revealing his sponsors had asked him to keep competing for another 12 months.

Bolt had originally planned to end his career after Rio 2016, but after the Commonwealth Games he hinted he would retire after the World Championships in London a year later.