USAIN BOLT has teased a return to the track against three of his biggest rivals from back in the day.
The eight-time Olympic gold medallist, 38, has been retired for over seven years and has claimed he would be open to racing again “just for the fun of it”.
However, athletics fans who want to see him go up against perhaps his biggest competitor, Justin Gatlin, will be disappointed to learn that Bolt has ruled that idea out.
The Jamaican explained that Gatlin is “in too good of a shape” for him to even compete.
Appearing on the Ready Set Go podcast, which is hosted by Gatlin and former Bahamas athlete Rodney Green, Bolt was asked if he would be up for a rematch with his old foe.
He said: “I’m ready, just for the fun of it. I’m ready, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”
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Caveating: “Nah man, Justin, him? He’s in too good of a shape.
“Bro I see him doing starts all the time. I asked him, I text him, ‘Bro, why are you in such good shape?”
Bolt and Gatlin had a longstanding rivalry on the track, with their head-to-heads starting at the London 2012 Games.
That race ended in victory for Bolt with an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds, whilst Gatlin finished in third.
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Bolt may not fancy going up against Gatlin, who finally got the better of him in his final season back in 2017, but there are some other rivals he wouldn’t made lining up against one last time.
Naming his dream line-up of opponents, Bolt said: “Me, you, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake.”
While he also suggested that he would like to roll back the years against some older sprinters and give new Olympic champion Noah Lyles a run for his money.
Adding: “I would definitely like to compete against Maurice Green, Ben Johnson.
“Let’s give Noah the spot just because I would love to race against him.”
Lyles, 27, won gold in the Men’s 100m in Paris in the summer, running a personal best 9.79 seconds.
That effort is still some 0.21 seconds off Bolt’s world record effort of 9.58 seconds set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
But Bolt thinks that the USA Olympian could come close to breaking his 200m world record of 19.19, with Lyles’ PB in that discipline just 0.12 off the Lightening Bolt.
But the Jamaican isn’t going to give Lyles any tips on how to beat it.
He told Citius Mag recently: “I think the possibility is there, because he came close at the world championships.
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“If he corrects a few things, he could get better. The possibility is there.
“I won’t say [what he needs to correct]. I won’t tell you how to break the world record.”
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
