Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer

MILLS

Glen Mills speaks about Usain Bolt's journey to Olympic stardom. Look for the two-part exclusive in The Gleaner this Saturday and Sunday.

GLEN MILLS, coach of track and field's new hero, Usain Bolt, has hit back at criticisms made against his charge by saying if there was ever a clean athlete, it's his champion sprinter.

Bolt won three gold medals and set three world records at the Beijing Olympics but legendary United States sprinter Carl Lewis said last week that anyone who did not question the sudden improvements in the champion's performances was "a fool".

Mills, in an exclusive interview with The Gleaner, said: "One thing I can say, everything you see him do out there, he does it totally and wholly through his ability.

"Those who are shocked by his rise in terms of improvement are probably going to be even more surprised because he definitely can run faster," he said.

You're a fool

Mills was responding after Lewis, who won four gold medals at the 1984 Olympics, told Sports Illustrated that for Bolt "to run 10.03 seconds one year and 9.69 the next, if you don't question that in a sport with the reputation it has right now, you're a fool. Period."

Following his 9.69 in the 100m final, Bolt ran 19.30 to break American Michael Johnson's 12-year-old record of 19.32 seconds in the 200m at the Games. He was also a member of Jamaica's 4x100m relay team, which ran 37.10 and accounted for another American record.

"Usain is a very, very special talent and once everything is right with him, it's difficult to predict where his limits are," said Mills, who said Bolt doesn't even like to take supplements.

"Usain is as clean, as they say, as a whistle. It's unfortunate that the world, or the American world, is unable to deal with the superbness of his performances, but they going to have to put up with it for a while to come ... because he is just a real, genuine talent.

Protecting the athlete

"Some of the people who are making the comments are really speaking from their experience ... because they might not be able to perform to the best of their ability without illegal help," said Mills, alluding to disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson who said no one could run in the 9.7s without drugs.

Now, according to Mills, Bolt's team would have to "double its efforts to protect" the athlete.

"We live in a world in which you cannot take any chances. Probably we will have to look at how best we can provide him with security. He has to be careful, especially when he stays in hotels and orders room service. You just can't be too careful because he is operating in hostile territory, as you see from the comments that are coming out of North America," said Mills.

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