Majority of athletes are clean says Bolt

Sprint king Usain Bolt has praised efforts by athletics chiefs to clamp down on doping in the build-up to August’s Olympic Games, saying that “most athletes are clean”.

In an interview in Thursday’s Times of India, the Jamaican was confident of adding to his bulging medal collection in Rio and shrugged off the vow by one of his main rivals, the American Justin Gatlin, to win gold.

Gatlin is being allowed to compete in Rio despite having served two doping bans while Bolt could also find himself up against former world champion Tyson Gay who was suspended for doping in 2013.

The decision to bar Russian athletes from the Rio games for their country’s state-sponsored doping has underlined the scale of the problem facing the sport but Bolt said he believed the battle against the cheats was being won.

“I believe the majority of athletes are clean and athletics is doing a good job at catching the ones who aren’t,” Bolt told the newspaper.

“The sport has to continue to fight the cheats.”

Bolt has himself been caught up in a doping controversy recently after teammate Nesta Carter reportedly tested positive for a banned stimulant during their gold-winning relay run at the 2008 games in Beijing.

The 29-year-old Bolt is eyeing history at Rio where he will attempt to become the first man ever to win gold in the 100, 200 and 4x100m events in three straight Olympics.

“I have my goals and will try to achieve those goals in Rio. My main aim is winning three more Olympic gold medals. I can still run very fast,” said Bolt.

“I never listen to what people say before a race. I focus on myself and know that if I am fit and healthy in Rio, I will be hard for anyone to beat.”