By Michael Gleeson
It might be easy to be phlegmatic when you are the fastest man and the most-lauded athlete in the world and lose a gold medal due to the mistake of another, but Usain Bolt said he was disappointed, not sad, to lose a relay Olympic gold because of a teammate's drug ban.
Bolt, who has arrived in Australia for the Nitro series, had to return the Olympic 4 x 100m relay gold he won in Beijing in 2008 after teammate Nesta Carter was retrospectively suspended for testing positive to a banned substance.
All Star: Former world record-holder Asafa Powell training at Albert Park on Wednesday.Credit: Jason South
"Initially I was disappointed of course, but in life things happen," Bolt said after touching down in Melbourne.
"I am not sad, I am waiting to see what Nesta is going to do, if he is going to appeal. I have given up my medal but I am concentrating [on Nitro] now."
Former world record-holder Asafa Powell was also in that Jamaican relay team and has had to return his medal too.
"It's very sad. We support him as a teammate. We went out there as a team and we did what we had to do. It's very unfortunate and we have to look to the future," said Powell who will also compete at Nitro.
"We've accomplished a lot and we just need to be positive about everything right now."
Unlike Bolt, Powell has previously failed a drug test and been banned. Like Carter, Powell's substance was ingested unwittingly. Powell's was an undeclared ingredient in a diet supplement (the manufacturer allegedly switched ingredients in the product and did not reveal the change). Carter's stimulant was also in a diet supplement.
"I'm in no position to say what should and should not be [banned]," Powell said when asked if penalties for certain products were too strong.
"It is what it is. Some things aren't fair. With some of the athletes it's hard to avoid certain things. It's not much to comment on but some things are very unfair."
Three members of that relay team from Beijing will be in Melbourne for the Nitro series with Michael Frater also in the seemingly unbeatable Bolt All Stars team.
"I haven't spoken to the captain. I don't know which event I am running," Powell said. "There are some pretty cool events – the 150, 60, the relay, 400 .... the 400 is a no-no for me, it's definitely a no-no. Anything over 150 is a no-no. If the captain says I'm going to have to do a 300 we're going to have a fight on the track, a serious fight."
Powell said he was happy to run the 60 metres knowing he would comfortably beat Bolt over that distance as the long-striding Bolt was notoriously slow in the first half of his races but surged in the second 50 metres.
"Definitely I should have him covered for 60 metres," Powell said.
"The captain will organise it quite well because we need to win. You know how he loves to win. It's going to be a team effort and he's put some good guys together so it should be good."
Powell has run under 10 seconds for the 100m more times than any other man but he doubts that at this time of year he will be able to break the mark if he runs a 100m in Melbourne.
"It's only February and we're really not used to competing in February. Anything is possible. We are pretty fast guys and can run sub-10s all day, so it's quite possible."
Australia meanwhile, chose to name joint captains with Ryan Gregson and Genevieve La Caze – partners off the track – named to lead the team.
They said world silver medallist long jumper, Fab Lapierre, was made team manager as he was determined to have an official title. Nic Bideau is Australia's coach.