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Chicken nuggets and yam fuel Bolt's sprint double bid

Posted August 20, 2008 16:23:00
Updated August 20, 2008 18:35:00

Usain Bolt runs 200m qualifying heats

Fuelled by chicken nuggets and yam: Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt. (Getty Images)

Jamaican Usain Bolt, fuelled by high-octane chicken nuggets and yam, aims to be the first man in 24 years to win the Olympic sprint double in tonight's 200 metres event.

It is Bolt's favoured event, and he predicted when he smashed his world record in winning the 100 metres that he would repeat the double last achieved by Carl Lewis in 1984.

The 21-year-old Bolt owns the three fastest 200 metres times this season, ran an effortless semi-final on Tuesday and joked afterwards he was only jogging.

"I was just trying to make sure I was in a good position, keeping an eye on the board and seeing where everyone else was," he said.

Despite his heroics so far, Bolt indicated Michael Johnson's world record of 19.32 seconds may be out of reach.

"I'm not really worried about the world record," Bolt said. "I'm just coming here to win. That's the aim for me."

Defending champion Shawn Crawford and 100 metres bronze medallist Walter Dix, both members of a US track team that has failed to excel in Beijing, figure as Bolt's main rivals with the Jamaican attributing his speed to his diet.

He dined on chicken nuggets before breaking the 100 metres world record, and said his food staple when growing up was his mother's yam mash.

-AFP

Tags: sport, athletics, olympics-summer, china, jamaica

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