Usain Bolt to run at Paris meet

Madrid, Feb 27 (IANS/EFE)

Usain Bolt, holder of six Olympic gold medals, will take part in the 200-meter race at the July 6 Diamond League meet as part of his preparation for August’s World Championships in Moscow.

The Jamaican runner will face France’s Christophe Lemaitre, the current European 100m champ, in the final race of the event, organizers said.

The two men competed against other in the 200m at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea, where Bolt won and Lemaitre came in third.

Bolt, 26, became the only man to win both the 100m and 200m at successive Olympic Games when he took the gold medals last August in London.

“With Bolt, we know that we will easily fill the Stade de France,” the head of the Paris Diamond League meeting, Laurent Boquillet, said Tuesday.

Organizers will pay the Jamaican sprinter $300,000 for taking part, Boquillet said, describing the fee as standard for a runner of Bolt’s caliber.