Usain Bolt set his sights on breaking his 200 metres world record at the Rio Olympics after retaining his 100m crown.
The Jamaican became the first man to win the Olympic 100m title for a third time and was optimistic of going seriously quick in his favoured event.
The 29-year-old begins his bid for an eighth Olympic gold in the heats on Tuesday, with the semi-finals the following day and the final on Thursday.
And Bolt, who blamed his slow winning time in the 100m of 9.81 seconds on the tight turnaround between semis and final, said the day’s rest in the 200m gave him hope of breaking his seven-year-old world record of 19.19secs.
“This is one of the biggest things,” said the world’s fastest man, whose confidence is flying after he all but jogged to 9.86s in the 100m semis.
“I really want (the) 200m world record. If I can get a good rest after the semi-finals, there’s a possibility I could.
“When it comes to the 200m I’m much more confident. The 100m is always the hardest one for me.”
So good did Bolt feel in the 100m semis in fact that he claimed, had he ran it flat out, he could have threatened his world record of 9.58.
“I felt really smooth, I knew if I ran through the line, I probably would have ran the world record or close to it,” said Bolt, who took gold ahead of Justin Gatlin and will go head-to-head with the two-time drug cheat over 200m as well.
It was some statement from a man who has not run under 9.77 since he won gold at London 2012 in 9.63 and a sign that he knows he is in form.
Bolt accused Gatlin of disrespect in the run-up to the Games after the American questioned his decision to pull out of the Jamaican trials with a hamstring strain.
