{"id":36886,"date":"2014-08-04T17:53:46","date_gmt":"2014-08-04T17:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=36886"},"modified":"2014-08-04T17:53:46","modified_gmt":"2014-08-04T17:53:46","slug":"this-was-my-first-and-last-commonwealth-games-bolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/08\/this-was-my-first-and-last-commonwealth-games-bolt\/","title":{"rendered":"This was my first and last Commonwealth games – Bolt"},"content":{"rendered":"
Usain Bolt completed his medal collection by winning Commonwealth gold in the 4×100 metres relay on Saturday night and then announced this would be his first and last appearance at the Games.<\/p>\n
It was not another alleged dig at Glasgow, which Bolt insisted put on a \u2018great competition\u2019 despite the weather, but an acceptance that the quickest man in history will be 31 by the time the 2018 Games on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast come around.<\/p>\n
\u2018I want to be there,\u2019 he said, \u2018but maybe not as an athlete.\u2019<\/p>\n
Early retirement: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is hoping to hang up his spikes before 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Winner: Usain Bolt won gold with his Jamaican teammates in the men’s relay event at Hampden Park<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Bolt has previously indicated he will bow out after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but suggested on Saturday night that his swansong might come a year later on British soil at the 2017 World Championships in London.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve always said that after Rio I will retire,\u2019 said the six-time Olympic champion. \u2018But they keep saying I should go on to 2017 so I think I might just do that.<\/p>\n \u2018I think that will be my last championships. I\u2019m just happy I\u2019ve done what I wanted to do in the sport.<\/p>\n \u2018I remember asking Michael Johnson why he retired when he was at the top and he told me that there was nothing else for him to accomplish so I think that when you\u2019re in the sport and you\u2019ve accomplished everything else then you should just retire.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s all these young kids coming up and I might start getting beaten and I hate losing.\u2019<\/p>\n The Jamaican is prone to making off-the-cuff statements about his legacy and \u2018legend\u2019 but, as he looked to his right and saw England\u2019s silver medal-winning relay quartet \u2014 with an average age of just 23 \u2014 his words seemed to carry particular resonance.<\/p>\n At 27, Bolt is far from finished, despite seeing much of this season wiped out by the foot injury he suffered in April, but it is getting harder, even for him.<\/p>\n His appeal is stronger than ever \u2014 he signed hundreds of autographs and smiled for umpteen \u2018selfies\u2019 during a protracted 45-minute lap of honour wearing a tartan bonnet and scarf on Saturday \u2014 but, physically, time is starting to take its toll in terms of the effort he has to put into training.<\/p>\n Funny man: Bolt is known for his larger than life personality as well as his outstanding running ability<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n