Usain Bolt Comments on Tyson Gay's Return to Track

Nearly 10 months since Tyson Gay's return to track and field after a one-year doping ban, rival Usain Bolt remains perplexed by what he considers to be a slap on the wrist.

According to Runner's World (h/t The Guardian), the Jamaican superstar believes his American counterpart should have received a much heftier punishment:

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I was really upset about that. He got a year just because he talked to the authorities about how it was done and who helped him. That sends the wrong message: 'If you do it and get caught, just tell us all you know and we'll lower your ban.' It’s the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The message should be: 'If you cheat you're going to be kicked out of the sport.'

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The 28-year-old Bolt is a six-time Olympic gold medalist and an eight-time world champion in sprinting. Gay was often his closest competition along the way, which is a big reason Bolt is so disappointed by the manner in which the situation has played out:

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I'm not looking forward to competing against Tyson (at the world championships). It really bothers me. I'm not worried about him beating me, I think it's because I respected him so much over the years. He was a competitor, kept me on my toes and he pushed me to always do my best. Then to find out that he was on drugs—it's a bit like I think parents must feel when they have a kid who does something bad and lets them down. I feel like he let me down and he let the sport down. ... You have to drive fear into athletes, to make them think about the consequences of their actions. If they're getting an easy penalty why would they care?

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Gay won a trio of gold medals at the 2007 world championships, and the 32-year-old American will look to add some more hardware to his collection this summer.

Bolt clearly doesn't intend to let that happen, but it will be interesting to see how his view regarding Gay might ultimately impact his performance.

Perhaps it will motivate him to outperform Gay even more than usual, but it could just as easily mess with his head and give Gay the mental edge he needs to compete.

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