Bolt To Run On Manchester Streets

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt has announced that he will compete in a 150 metre street race in Manchester on 17th May.

Bolt will use the Great CityGames event as his first race in Europe this year ahead of the World Championships.

The 22-year old Jamaican won gold in the men’s 100m and 200m at the Beijing Olympic Games in world record times and also triumphed in the 4×100 team.

The Manchester events will be similar to street sprint races held in Newcastle and Gateshead last summer, while there are also plans for an international ‘Ashes’ match between England and Australia this summer.

Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie will be bidding to regain his Bupa Great Manchester Run title on the same day.

Bolt, who will use the event partly as a tune-up for the World Championships in Berlin in August, said: ‘I am very excited to compete for my first time in Manchester, my first time in a 150m race and my first time in a street race.

‘I love competing in the UK, it is like my second home as I usually stay in London during the European racing season.

‘When I heard about the idea I thought it would be great fun and something new and exciting. Hopefully this event will be the start of many more similar events all over the world and inspire kids to take up athletics.’

Bolt, a Manchester United fan, added that he had an ulterior motive for racing in the city.

‘I am also looking forward to going to Old Trafford to support my team. I’ve wanted to come to a match for a long time and am delighted to get the opportunity.’