By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt will attempt to break his own record for the 150-meter race on Easter Sunday, March 31th during the Male Olympian race of the Mano a Mano event held on Copacabana Beach.
Often referred to as the fastest man in the world, he currently holds among his titles both the 100-meter and 200-meter Olympic world records.
In 2009 he set the record for the 150-meter race in Manchester, United Kingdom clocking in at 14.35 seconds.
On Sunday at 11:45 AM he will compete against Antigua and Barbuda’s Daniel Bailey, Ecuador’s Alex Quiñónez and a local Brazilian qualifier on a specially designed blue four-lane track located in the middle of Copacabana Beach. The track is is made from the same material used in both World Championships and Olympics competitions.
Bolt arrived in Rio on Thursday, March 28th and attended a training practice on the temporary Copacabana track on Friday.
There he also participated in a 150-meter race on the track with eight local children between 8 and 14 years from the Programa Atletas do Futuro (Future Athletes Program), an initiative of the Social Service of Industry (SESI) which uses sports as a way to aid in social inclusion and provide opportunities for local children.
Bolt told reporters that he would return to Rio for the 2016 games but that he didn’t foresee any record breaking moments in the future, “I am definitely going to be here,” he told the Associated Press, “The record is going to be a little bit harder to break because then I will be kind of old. I’ll be 33 but I’ll definitely come and give a good performance, definitely.”
On Sunday there was also a Paralympics race at 10:10 AM and a Female Olympian race at 11AM.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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