July 17 Update: Usain Bolt sat down with Alex and Patrick of BBC’s ‘The One Show’ on Friday to talk about competing at the re-opening of the London Olympic Stadium on Friday 24th July.
It has been three years since the superstar won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4×100-meter relay events at the London Olympic Stadium.
The announcement came just two days after British Treasury chief George Osborne decided that foreign athletes would not be taxed on the earnings while in London for the two-day Anniversary Games meet, according to the Associated Press.
Fans have been very concerned about the superstar sprinter’s health and progress after he suffered a pelvic injury that led to the Jamaican withdrawing from races in Paris last month and Lausanne last Thursday, and he also pulled out of the 100m at the Jamaican national trials at short notice. Justin Gatlin, Asafa Powell, and Tyson Gay have all run faster, with Justin Gatlin having three of the fast times so far this season and remains been unbeaten. He leads the field with a season-best of 9.74 seconds.
The Jamaican sprinter hasn’t clocked a favorable season’s best yet this season. The legend has only competed in two races so far, but fans remain optimistic. Bolt has run just five times this season, clocking a 100m best of 10.12 seconds in April.
The record holder said in a statement:
I have great memories of competing in the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2012 and in the previous Grand Prix meets in London. The British fans are always great and I expect there will also be a lot of Jamaican fans in the stadium. It will be amazing to put on another great show for them under the floodlights on the Friday night.
Bolt’s last race was a 200 meters in New York on June 13 that he described as “really bad.” His time of 20.29 was more than a second off his world record of 19.19.
