Usain Bolt has taken a swipe the organisers of the London Games for the “weird, silly rules” that athletes are subjected to in and around the Olympic park.
When asked to comment on the London Olympiad, the 100m champion offered a less than glowing recommendation.
“It has been ok,” he said in the press conference after setting a new Olympic record in the showpiece event.
“It has been different from Beijing. There are lots of rules, weird, silly rules that don’t make any sense to me.”
When pushed on what specifically he hadn't liked about his experience in London, Bolt seemed to suggest that the staff running the Olympics had been over-officious in their duties.
“I tried to wear my tie into here [the park], “ he said. “They said ‘no’. I said why? ‘Because of the rules', they said”.
“Then I wanted to bring my skipping rope in and they said ‘no’ because it’s ‘the rules’.”
He added: “These rules just don’t make sense to me.”
Even on the track, Bolt seems to have been dogged by jobs-worth staff.
“I was about to run in the final and a guy was telling me to ‘line up’, to ‘stay in a straight line’. I thought really? You’re going to make me line up? Just silly rules…”
Despite his brush with authority, the Jamaican said he had enjoyed being in the Olympic village, and spending time with his teammates “playing FIFA and Call of Duty”.
Bolt also thanked the Olympic crowd for helping him in the final.
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“I was feeling nervous before I came out [for the final],“ he said, “but after the cheer I got the jitters went away… the crowd played an important part."
Bolt won the 100m final with a time of 9.63 seconds. His countryman, Yohan Blake, finished second, while US runner Justin Gatlin finished third.
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Posted: 06/08/2012 00:35 Updated: 07/08/2012 17:52