Usain Bolt has a simple message following a string of doping scandals that have cast a shadow over athletics and Jamaican sport: "I'm clean."
A six-time Olympic gold
medalist, Bolt was speaking publicly for the first time since his fellow
Jamaican and elite sprinter Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay of the United
States tested positive for banned substances.
"If you were following me
since 2002 you would know that I have been doing phenomenal things
since I was 15," the 100 meter and 200 meter world record holder told
reporters ahead of this weekend's Diamond League meeting in London.
"I was the youngest
person to win the world junior title at 15, I ran the world junior
record at 18, the world youth record at 17.
"I have broken every
record there is to break, in every event I have ever done. For me, I
have proven myself since I was 15. For me, I have shown I was always
going to be great."
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"I was made to inspire
people and to run. I was given a gift and that's what I do. I'm
confident in myself and my team, the people I work with. And I know I am
clean."
Powell became the second
high-profile Jamaican sprinter to fail a drugs test in a matter of
weeks. Veronica Campbell-Brown, a a triple Olympic gold medalist, was
given a provisional suspension in June.
Powell, Campbell-Brown
and Gay deny knowingly taking banned substances, as does Jamaican
Sherone Simpson who also tested positive.
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Bolt revealed he had sent a text message to Powell, telling his compatriot "to stay strong and focused."
"There are a lot of
details yet to be discussed so I'm just sitting and waiting to see the
results and what's what," added Bolt. "There are a lot of things that
haven't been done and haven't been said so I'm just waiting to see what
is going on.
"You have to be very
careful as an athlete because right now there are a lot of things on the
banned list. You have to keep up to date all of the time. It's hard but
that's why you have a team to help you out with this kind of thing."
Away from athletics,
Jamaican sport was rocked by a fresh doping scandal after one of the
Caribbean nation's footballers become the latest sporting figure to fail
a drugs test.
The unnamed footballer
failed a test carried out by the sport's global governing body FIFA
following last month's World Cup qualifying match against Honduras.
"During the World Cup
Qualifying match, Honduras vs Jamaica, on June 11, 2013 a member of the
Jamaican squad returned an adverse analytical finding on his urine
sample," read a statement from the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF).
"The testing was carried
out by the FIFA. This means that the ensuing process will be managed by
the FIFA. The player has been informed and we await further information
from the FIFA.
"The JFF has taken this
matter very seriously and a thorough investigation has already started
by the chairman of the JFF Medical Committee."
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