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I never think of losing, says Usain Bolt

Triple Olympic champion says it's 'great' to be asked to carry flag for Jamaica at opening ceremony.

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Usain Bolt was expected to wait for a week before he stole the show but the star attraction of the entire Games has decided to start treating us all to his magic dust tonight (Friday) when he carries the Jamaican flag with burning pride at the opening ceremony.

And London 2012's marquee

athlete, dismissing any suggestion of injury concerns, believes he is in the ideal shape to return to the Olympic Stadium eight days later and start turning the event into his own

personal golden benefit.

Asked by a concerned reporter at the giant bun fight which passed for his annual state-of-the-Bolt address whether it would be the end of the world if he lost his 100?metres crown, the triple champion smiled cheerily from beneath his yellow baseball cap: "It won't be the end of the world. At championships, I never think of

losing."

There will hardly be any British athletics stars at tonight's ceremony as the vast majority are still at their Portuguese training camp but Bolt had no hesitation in accepting the honour of being Jamaica's flag-bearer. "For my country I'll do anything," said the triple Olympic champion.

Bolt's presence will doubtless thrill Danny Boyle and Co. As the world's media sweltered in an arty warehouse in Shoreditch yesterday waiting for Bolt to finally show like some

Hollywood megastar some 45 minutes late, you could understand why he is the biggest attraction at this whole shebang.

Bolt is due to defend his 100m crown a week on Sunday on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence and said: "I love Jamaica. To be on TV, to be singled out at the opening ceremony, it's kind of great. I'm looking forward to it." But not as much as he is looking forward to the chance of achieving his aim of being "a living legend" by defending all three of his titles at 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Rumours had been circulating after a difficult campaign for Bolt that he may still have been struggling while preparing with his Jamaican

colleagues at the University of Birmingham. No cameras were allowed in to see him, only adding to the speculation.

But in familiarly relaxed mood, lounging back on stage in the old brewery warehouse just off Brick Lane, he assured 500 reporters and 75 camera crews that he was in fine shape.

"My back was a little stiff and it went down to my hamstrings but I'm over that," he reported. "I've trained great for the last two and half weeks and everything's coming together. As for the cameras, my coach [Glen Mills] determines whether I train in front of them. And he doesn't like them."

His old foe, Asafa Powell, was with him on stage to josh around but with Jamaican team officials suggesting some athletes who had been due to join Bolt on stage had been waylaid unloading luggage at the Village, there was no sign of Yohan Blake, the training partner who poses the greatest threat after beating Bolt at 100m and 200m in the Jamaican trials.

"I'm always ready. I keep telling you it's about the championships, it's not about the trials," shrugged Bolt. "Fitness-wise I wasn't the best but I couldn't complain. It's always a

wake-up call to get beaten. It made me open my eyes and rethink a few things."

Did he believe finishing second again would now be considered real failure?

"Failure that's the wrong word. I'd definitely be disappointed if I didn't win but mentally I'm a strong person. I never worry about a single thing." Jamaica expects. "Everyone wants a world record to help celebrate Independence Day for Jamaica," he said. When it was suggested that scientific analysis suggested his rivals were closing the gap on him, he said with a smile: "I'm never going to listen to what science says. If I did I'd still be running 9.7."

Christophe Lemaitre, France's European champion, has withdrawn from the 100m fray to concentrate all his energies on the 200m, but the American duo of Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin, as well as Blake, are promising to make this a race of rare quality. "Hands down, I'm thinking this could easily be one of the fastest 100m ever seen," said Bolt.

But if he is a worried man, then he could have fooled his audience. First, he broke into a fit of giggles when a Chilean girl reporter, trying to ask about his general state of happiness, suggested earnestly: "I know you are gay", and then he offered his response to news of condoms being distributed around the Village with the observation: "This is news to me. Anyway, my schedule is way too busy!"

 

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