Triple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt will run in a 150 metres street race in Manchester, England, on Sunday after recovering from a car accident, the world record holder said on Monday.
“I’m going to Manchester to compete as an athlete,” Bolt told reporters in Jamaica. “My coach (Glen Mills) does not play around and he said that I can compete.”
Bolt suffered minor injuries to his feet in a car accident in his homeland on April 29. He resumed training on Friday.
“(He) looks okay and will be fine for Manchester,” Mills said in statement released by Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms.
Bolt said he was looking forward to the special race.
“Anytime I go out there it is all about running,” he said. “So I am going out there to compete.”
His sports car was a write off in the accident, but the sprinter denied he was driving recklessly. He said a slippery road surface caused the vehicle to slide off the road and land, on its top, in a ditch.
“I was not speeding as some people have said,” Bolt said. “Even the police confirmed that I was not speeding.
“If I were speeding, things would have been much worse, because the car flipped. I was not speeding, the car just slid and I lost control.”
While in Manchester, Bolt will meet Manchester United soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and be introduced at United’s home game against Arsenal on Saturday, Simms said.
His next competition will be a 100m in Toronto on June 11
