Marlon Devonish Spoiling to Beat Usain Bolt in Manchester 150m Street Race
Marlon Devonish believes he has his best chance yet of putting one over on the triple world record holder Usain Bolt in the Great City Games 150m sprint in Manchester on Sunday. The Coventry-born Olympic sprint relay gold medallist, who produced his best-ever 100m season opener in Miami last month with a time of 10.11sec, views the race down Deansgate as ideal preparation for the world championships this summer.
“I love competing against the best in the world,” Devonish said, “I thrive off it. I’ve raced against Bolt before. He’s a bit of a joker – he likes to enjoy himself, so there will be a lot of banter. On a serious note, though, the 150 is good for training, so I’m looking at how it will be benefit me. I’m going to hit it really hard to get me closer to race fitness. Of course I want to go there and win. I don’t think Bolt will be in 9.6 shape yet – and he’s had a car accident as well.”
Devonish has spent the past three months warm-weather training with an elite group of athletes headed by Tyson Gay and Veronica Campbell and coached by Lance Brauman. Their fitness regime is what has pushed the 33-year-old to the form of his life, says Devonish. Recalling his 100m season opener he said: “I had tired legs and I ran 10.11, so I thought wow! It was my first race, in early April too, I haven’t raced that early in years.”
Bolt’s own form may be in a different league, but Devonish insists that the rest of the world’s elite will not want to be left behind. “I think when anyone does anything special in athletics people think, how’s he doing it? I’m sure those athletes, like myself, are scrutinizing and analyzing how he’s done it. That’s part and parcel of the sport moving on. He’s stepped out of ‘the group’ so to speak so it’s up to the rest of us now to move forward. It’s exciting and it’s what the sport needs.”
Devonish welcomes the City Games initiative, which he views as key to introducing a new audience to the sport. “If you can bring the sport to the streets and see how quick athletes are running – get an idea of how explosive the whole thing is and how quickly it all happens – you have a better understanding of what it’s like. Even when I sit back and watch other people run I’m like, ‘Wow, do I run that quick?’
“It’s quite phenomenal [the speed], and I think that’s missed, especially on TV. Bolt being associated with this obviously means he’s interested in that as well. Millions have seen his Olympic races, but now they can see it first hand and get a real feel for it.”
Marlon Devonish uses the Lloyds­pharmacy Hayfever Reliever, a phototherapy device, to relieve his symptoms.
