Even Bolt's coach convinced of 100m pedigree

By Gene Cherry

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Usain Bolt always thought he could run a fast 100 metres. Convincing his coach was the difficult part.

Glen Mills visualised the lanky Bolt as the next great 400 metres runner but Jamaican Bolt had different dreams.

Could the speed that made him the world 200 metres silver medallist and world junior record holder also make him a contender in the more glamorous 100 metres, he wondered.

After much discussion, runner and coach reached a compromise - if Bolt broke Donald Quarrie's Jamaican 200 metres record he could run one 100 metres, Mills told his pupil in 2007.

Down went the record, Bolt running 19.75 seconds at the Jamaican championships, and Bolt's fairytale run to the 100 metres world record was launched.

His opening race at the distance, 10.03 seconds in a July Greek meeting, was only the third fastest by a Jamaican in 2007. But it planted a seed.

"After that there was no stopping him," Mills told Reuters in an interview.

The 100 metres would become Bolt's opening act for 2008, with the focus staying on winning 200 metres gold at Beijing, coach and athlete agreed.