Olympic champion Usain Bolt could lower his 100 metres world record to 9.4 seconds if in shape and the rain clouds stay away from London, International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) president Lamine Diack said.
"Anything is possible. I think if Usain Bolt is in shape possibly we will see 9.40-something (seconds) in the 100m," Diack told reporters on Tuesday.
Bolt's record-breaking 100m win in 9.69 stunned the world four years ago at the Beijing Olympic Games only for the 27-year-old Jamaican to better his time to 9.58 in Berlin at the world championships a year later. Bolt also holds the world record in the 200m set at 19.19 set in 2009 in Berlin as well.
In London, though, he has a new challenge from a familiar face in training partner and compatriot Yohan Blake, who beat Bolt in the 100m and 200m at the Jamaican trials and is the fastest man over the first distance this year.
"I am convinced that we are going to have extraordinary events and spectacles," Diack said. "For me the Games begin on the 3rd (when track and field starts)."
American great Michael Johnson said earlier this month that he too believed Bolt is capable of running 9.40 seconds if he can improve his starting position in races.
Diack also confirmed that the Federation would stick with its one false start rule, having recently clarified that athletes can twitch or flinch in the starting blocks without being disqualified as long as their hands do not leave the ground or their feet leave the blocks.
Bolt famously false started in the final of last year's world championship 100 metres, ending his chances of defending his title in South Korea.
The IAAF added that the dates for the world championships in London, 2017, had been approved as August 5-13.
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Reigning Olympic 200 metres queen Veronica Campbell-Brown conceded Wednesday it will be difficult to successfully defend her crown at the London Olympics.
The 30-year-old has not been enjoying the best of seasons, suffering a string of defeats this year which have hinted at chinks in her armour.
She told journalists here that she had worked hard on her preparation for the Olympics, however, and would be giving the title defence her best shot.
"I put in all the work and I know it will be absolutely difficult for me to claim victory here in the 200m but anything can happen," she said.
"I prepared well and so I just have to keep my mental focus right and make sure that I get my race together. It will come down to execution and mental focus and I will go out there and I will give it my all and we will see what happens."
Campbell-Brown has run a season-best 10.82 seconds in the 100 metres for second behind Olympic champion and fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.70) at the Jamaica trials.
She was again beaten in the 200m at the trials, running 22.42 behind Fraser-Pryce and Sherone Simpson.
But the most notable of her defeats came in Lucerne on July 17, when she ran 22.70 for second behind American Charonda Williams (22.52).
Campbell-Brown, who will run both 100m and 200m races at the Olympics, agreed it had not been her best year but said she was remaining optimistic.
"I will not dwell on those (bad races) and look on those as something negative… I learned from those races and I am going into my competition here very confident," she said.
"I am going to go out there and give it my best and only God knows what the result will be. I have trained hard this season and not because I had a few races that did not went too well, I am not going to let that deter my confidence or allow it to let me feel weak or anything."
Campbell-Brown won back-to-back 200m titles in Athens and Beijing, on both occasions beating American Allyson Felix, a three-time world champion over the distance.
However, she won her first 200m world title last year in Deagu.
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Referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov from Turkmenistan has been expelled from the London Olympics, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) said yesterday.
A second referee, Frank Scharmach of Germany, was suspended for five days by AIBA and a technical official from Azerbaijan sent home following two controversial decisions at the Olympic competition on Wednesday.
"I deeply regret that we had to take these decisions," AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo said in a statement.
"However, our main concern has been and will always be the protection of the integrity and fair-play of our competitions. I will take all possible steps to reinforce this."
He later told Reuters: "There is only one truth and we always get to the truth."
Meretnyyazov failed to stop a men's bantamweight bout despite fighter Magomed Abdulhamidov being knocked down six times in the final round. The referee was expelled with immediate effect and AIBA said he was on his way home.
Japan's Satoshi Shimizu, who went into the last round of the bout against the Azerbaijani trailing by seven points, lost the contest by five when all three rounds were scored.
AIBA later overturned the verdict saying Meretnyyazov should have given the Azerbaijani "at least" three standing counts which would have resulted in the contest being stopped.
Iran's Ali Mazaheri accused officials of "a fix" after being disqualified by referee Scharmach in the second round of his opening heavyweight bout against Cuban Jose Larduet Gomez following three warnings for persistent holding.
Mazaheri was leading by two points going into the second round but the Iran team did not appeal and under AIBA rules it is now too late to do so.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored ties with AIBA in 2006 after freezing some funds to the association over controversial scoring decisions at the 2004 Athens Games.
At the time, the IOC expressed concerns over the scoring process and the selection of judges and froze more than US$1 million in payments to AIBA.
The boxing tournament in Athens was marred by several controversial scores that angered spectators and fans.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com