Usain Bolt stunned over bizarre drug test request
Sprint legend Usain Bolt says he’s stunned after being handed a drug testing notice despite retiring from athletics and having no professional contract as he bids to launch a football career in Australia.
The 100m world record-holder quit athletics last year and is yet to be offered a deal by Australia’s Central Coast Mariners, where he is currently on trial.
“So guys I’ve retired from track and field looking to become a footballer but look at this,” Bolt said Monday via an Instagram video as he zoomed in on the notice.
The demand for the out of competition test — to collect urine and blood — appears to have been issued by Football Federation Australia.
“How am I going to get a drug test today? I’m not even a professional footballer yet. Seriously,” said Bolt.
“So I asked the lady, ‘Why am I getting drug tested when I haven’t signed for a club yet?? and she said they told her I’m an elite athlete so I have to get tested. Okay then.”
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Despite his displeasure, it appears the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority guidelines mean he is eligible to be tested.
Their legislation defines an athlete as a “person who competes in sport” if “the sport has an anti-doping policy”.
The eight-time Olympic champion, who dominated sprinting after taking double individual gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, is now bidding to become a professional footballer.
He made his case on Friday by scoring two goals for the Mariners in a pre-season friendly.
The superstar, a massive Manchester United fan, has been handed a chance to train with the A-League side for an indefinite period in order to pursue his dream.
Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt scored twice in his first start for Australia’s Central Coast Mariners.
Bolt ‘offered European deal’ agent says
Usain Bolt’s agent has confirmed that the sprinter-turned-football player has received an offer from a major European club.
The 32-year-old is currently on trial with Australian side Central Coast Mariners, where he made worldwide headlines with two goals in their pre-season friendly with Macarthur South West United.
However, his time in Australia may end up being cut short as agent Tony Rallis confirmed that there is a contract offer on the table for the former sprinter.
“There is a club in Europe that has offered Bolt a two-year deal, they have been taken over by new owners who have aspirations of Champions League football,” Rallis told ESPN.
The move is just one of a number of offers Bolt is considering, with the Mariners deciding whether to keep him on for the 2018-19 A-League season.
He said he would like to stay with the club, especially after they gave him the chance to show his worth in the friendly with Macarthur South West United.
with Agencies.
