• London Olympics 2012

Bolt not suited to 400m yet

ESPN staff
December 19, 2011
Usain Bolt could be gunning for four gold medals at London 2012 © Getty Images
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Usain Bolt's coach has admitted the 400m relay may be a bridge too far for the Olympic sprint champion at London 2012.

Bolt, who stormed to 100, 200m and 4x100m glory at the 2008 Beijing Games, has now set his sights on adding the 4x400m relay to his repertoire.

And although Glen Mills, who became Bolt's coach after the 2004 Athens Olympics, believes the Jamaican's future lies in 400m, he admits Bolt may not be ready to compete in the one-lap event by the summer.

"It's a desire, but there's a lot more to it than what he says," Mills said. "First, there's a trial where the quarter-milers are selected. It depends on what the national body of athletics decides. It's not for us to say.

"We can express a desire, but Usain is not going to run the 400m at the trials, so it would have to be a decision by the association on it.

"He has all the attributes to be a quarter-miler, but he hasn't taken a liking to the event. He works hard at the sprints, but I guess the 400m isn't for him. When he's not as fast, maybe the quarter-mile will be the option for him. Everybody wants to be a winner and he's just that in his events. He may have a change of heart in the future."

While Mills concedes a 4x400m berth for Bolt seems unlikely, he believes his charge is capable of smashing his own world records and bettering his performances in Beijing and at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

"He can do better than Beijing and Berlin, but I'm not certain of the weather in London," Mills said in the Evening Standard. "It's very tricky, but if the weather is right and the climate is warm, he can do it."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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