Bolt gears up for Olympic trials

With less than 40 days to go before the Olympics, the sprint superstar will aim to seal his ticket to Rio as he targets a defence of his 100 metres, 200m and 4x100m crowns.

Bolt, who completed an unprecedented second consecutive set of victories in all three events at the London 2012 Games, is hoping to complete a remarkable “Triple Triple.”

So far this season, the signs have been encouraging that Bolt is firmly on track, with the 29-year-old clocking a blistering 9.88 seconds at a meeting in Kingston on June 11, the second-fastest time in the world this year. Only France’s Jimmy Vicaut, who clocked a wind-assisted 9.86sec earlier in June, has run faster this season.

Unlike the IAAF world Championships, there are no byes to the Olympics and under the rules of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) every athlete seeking to be chosen for Rio Games must compete at the trials.

Bolt’s main challenge is likely to come from Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade, both of whom have clocked under 10 seconds this season at 9.94sec. Heats begin Thursday at Kingston’s National Stadium with the final set for Friday.