Usain Bolt will race for the first time since the Rio Olympics on Saturday, embarking on the final season of his sprinting career.
Bolt said he will race a 4x100m relay at the first of three legs of the Nitro Athletics series in Melbourne, Australia. The series continues Thursday and the following Saturday, also in Melbourne.
Bolt arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday. The most newsworthy takeaway from his pre-meet interviews is that Bolt ruled out coming back in 2018 for a farewell race at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
“I have thought about it [Gold Coast], I have really put some thought into it but it’s not going to happen,” Bolt said, according to the Melbourne Herald Sun. “Because to come out here next season to really train as hard as I need to get to the level that I need to to win, it’s not going to happen.”
Recall in November, at Bolt’s last trip to Australia, he said there was a “50-50" shot he laced up at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, despite repeated (and repeated) comments in the last few years that he would end his career in 2017.