By Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterTHE MUCH-ANTICIPATED appearance of Jamaica's sprint sensation Usain Bolt at next week's World Athletics Championships in Paris, France, will not materialise more due to a lack of preparation than a case of conjunctivitis (pink eye).
This was disclosed by Bolt's manager, Norman Peart, in a telephone interview with The Gleaner yesterday.
Peart said the pink eye the young sprinter acquired over a week was not the reason for his withdrawal from his pet event (200m) .
"It was not a decision made overnight," Peart said.
Despite being the fastest Jamaican this year, Peart said Bolt was not yet at World Championships standard.
Peart said when Bolt ran 20.61 to win at the World Junior Championships earlier this year, his time did not put him in line for the World Championships hence his programme was not geared towards it.
"It's all track work, no gym work. When we looked at the times he did last year, based on those times, we never said he would be a factor at the World Championships," Peart said.
"He ran 21.1 to break Darrel Brown's Carifta record, then at CAC he did 20.60, that was a surprise for us," Peart said, noting some of Bolt's 2002 times.
"Usain's programme was not geared for the World Championships. The target was for him to prepare for next year's Olympic Games," the manager added.
Another of the reasons given was that the National 200m champion has not had a lot of gym work.
Basing his argument on the notion that four rounds of athletics may be very strenuous for the 16-year-old, Peart said the when Bolt thrashed the 'big boys' at the National Trials he ran only two rounds, semi-finals and final.
"Not because he ran that fast within a short space of time made him ready for World Champion-ships. He was preparing to peak for the junior level (Pan American and World Youth), we do not plan to change his programme," added Peart.
The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), through its president Pat Anderson, said Bolt was still a part of the squad to Paris.
"Bolt is in the 46 named and he will be going to the World Championships," Anderson said.
However, Peart said while the possibility exists that the joint world junior record holder (20.13) might run on the country's 4x100 relay team, he is definitely out of the mile relay.
