Olympics: Usain Bolt to look for a new motivation

The 100m and 200m 'legend' not ready to call time on his career after completing an unprecedented sprint double at London 2012.

Usain Bolt, who became the first man to win the 100m and 200m sprint double, may consider giving long jump a try. Franck Fife / AFP

Usain Bolt insisted he had no intention of retiring after becoming the first man to win the 100 metres and 200m sprint double in successive Olympic Games, but he did acknowledge he would need to find a new goal to remain motivated.

And the 25 year old also claimed he would find it hard to defend his titles once more at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 with the compatriots he led home in Thursday's 200m final – Yohan Blake and Warren Weir – both only 22.

"I think it's going to be a hard mission," Bolt said. "Both these guys are 22. They are going to be 26, I'm going to be 30 [his birthday is August 21, the day of the closing ceremony in Rio]. Both these guys are running extremely well right now. I think I've had my time. It's going to be hard. In life everything is possible, but for me this is going to be a hard reach because there's going to be a lot more talent coming up and these guys have really stepped up already.

"For me I'm not looking that far. I've made myself a legend, I'm just going to enjoy it right now. To have set a goal for yourself for years to become a legend and then to accomplish that goal is just a wonderful feeling."

Such comments prompted a question about whether today's 4x100m relay final could even be his last race, but Bolt insisted that was still some way in the future.

"No, no, no, I'm not ready to retire yet," he added.

"I love this sport, I have got all my success through this sport, all my fans through this sport, so I'll always continue to run. I think when I get to 30 I've got to be thinking about retirement because track and field is way too hard. It's rough day in and day out."

But where does he go next?

The subject of the 400m was quickly slapped down – "No to the 400m, no. Please do not ask any more questions about the 400m" – as was a conversion to the Winter Olympics and the Jamaican bobsleigh team, but the long jump could be a possibility.

American Mike Powell said last year that Bolt should wait until after London 2012 before giving the long jump a go, and believes the world record holder over 100 and 200m could add the long jump mark - Powell's record is 8.95m – to his collection.

"That's something I've always wanted to try," Bolt said of the long jump, adding: "I made a goal, to become a legend, so I need to sit down and find something that's going to really motivate me to go out there and do great things.

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