ago.23.2008

Paul Kelso in Beijing
guardian.co.uk,
Friday August 23 August 2008
Usain Bolt storms clear to win the men's 100m final. Photograph: Reuters

Frankie Fredericks, four times an Olympic silver medallist and chairman of the IOC's athletes commission, today endorsed Usain Bolt's outstanding performances at the Beijing Games, saying he believed the Jamaican has competed clean and defending his right to celebrate as he chooses.

IOC president Jacques Rogge criticised Bolt's reaction to his two world-record runs in completing the sprint double, suggesting that the 22-year-old needed to grow up and show more respect to his opponents. In the 100m final Bolt eased up before the finish and made a gesture that Rogge has interpreted as meaning "catch me if you can".

Fredericks, who was Namibia's first Olympic medallist and who has first-hand experience after finishing second behind Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson as they set world records in the 100m and 200m at the Atlanta Games, said Bolt had done nothing wrong.

"You can't tell a guy who has run 9.69sec how to react," Fredericks said. "We should be happy for him and I am happy for him."

Fredericks was famed for his sportsmanship during a distinguished career, but said he might have reacted in the same way had he run as fast as Bolt.

"I don't know what I would have done because I've never run 9.69sec. These guys have trained for a long time and you would have to ask Usain why he did what he did, but it's difficult for me to tell you I would not have done it. It was a unique moment for an athlete who has worked very hard."

Fredericks, who has repeatedly spoken out against the use of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics, said he had no doubt that Bolt's achievements were genuine. The litany of sprinting cheats who have disfigured recent Olympic Games means the Jamaican will face scepticism, but Fredericks said he deserves praise rather than suspicion.

"I am not sceptical, because I always believed the guy in the lane next to me was clean. If a guy like me from a tiny country could run clean and go under 10 seconds 27 times in my career, why can't the guy in the next lane? Once in a while a guy comes along who is special. I have faith in Usain and we all need to have faith."

Jamaica's sprinters have dominated the men's and women's 100m and 200m, winning all four titles, but there is no national anti-doping agency in the country. Fredericks said he was confident in the regional testing programme run by the IAAF.

"The IAAF has a regional programme in the Caribbean for testing and I'm sure that it makes sure that the athletes are tested. In Namibia we had no agency but I was tested all the time. We have to make sure that the top athletes are tested and that there is a level playing field."