Wednesday, August 8, 2012

(AP)After being barred from bringing a jump rope into Olympic Stadium before the 100-meter final, Usain Bolt vowed to smuggle one in before he runs in the 200 final on Thursday.
The four-time gold medalist had his rope confiscated by an official on Sunday night, prior to his successful defense of his gold-medal sprint. Bolt uses the rope as a warm-up tool.
"I wanted to bring my skipping rope in and they said 'no' because it's 'the rules,'" he told reporters. "These rules just don't make sense to me. I am going to [bring the rope in on Tuesday]. I am going to stick it under my bag, bottom of my bag or something."
Sebastian Coe, the head of the London Olympics, vowed to look into the ban.
"I presume the skipping rope was a warm-up aid so I will look at that," he told reporters.
Why are athletes banned from bringing things into the arena? Have security officials been watching too many James Bond films and/or "The Naked Gun"? The IOC is big on making sure the rules apply to everyone and never setting a precedent that can be used against it one day. But surely Usain Bolt having a "skipping rope" isn't something that threatens the safety of the Games. (And, by the way, Usain Bolt is one of the few men who can speak of his "skipping rope" and still sound like the coolest guy on earth.)
Bolt also expressed anger that an official said he should run in a straight line before the 100-meter final. That's sort of like telling Michael Phelps not to start playing Marco Polo during the 400 IM.
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