But even before Johnson and Greene had pulled up lame in the course of the 200m final, Boldon had already taken exception to the way in which the event as a whole was being portrayed in the media.”Michael and Maurice were being portrayed as two gladiators. But there was a school of thought that said: ‘Wait a moment! Hell-o!’ I felt my own form before the US trials had signalled my re-arrival at the top level and I think I was a little insulted. Going to my car after the final everyone was coming up to me and saying: ‘You can win now because Maurice and Michael won’t be there’.”Boldon does not acknowledge that the event has diminished in value, although he describes the 100m – where Greene will seek to add the Olympic title to the world one he already holds – as being more important to him. Characteristically, Boldon justifies this by setting it in historical context.

“Just take a look back to 1992, when the 100m was won by Linford Christie and the 200m by Mike Marsh. With all due respect to Mike, look who had the lasting legacy.”Boldon, however, shies away from saying that he will win an Olympic title – wise, perhaps, given his fitful competitive record. This, after all, was the man who ran 9.87sec easing down in the 100m quarter-finals at the 1997 world championships but failed even to win a medal when it came to the final.Boldon is acutely aware of his national importance alongside his two friends and compatriots who are also at the peak of their own sports, Brian Lara and Dwight Yorke “When I lose we have kids coming home in tears,” he said. “When I win, it’s celebration time.”His achievements thus far have been marked back home by his having an airliner named after him. Asked if there was anything his country could do to top that should he win in Sydney, he replied with a wide grin: “They can always do something else. I’d like three or four stadiums in my name to be built with great facilities.” He added, with another twinkle: “and I’d like Tobago. Not necessarily in that order.” A fresh ripple of mirth sounded in his ears That roll.

He was still on it.* Javier Sotomayor has denied an allegation that he has tested positive for cocaine at least one more time since being banned last year. “Of course it is false, it is totally false,” Cuba’s world champion high jumper said after learning of the comments made by the IAAF vice-president, Arne Ljungqvist, two days after Sotomayor had his two-year suspension halved, allowing him to compete at the Sydney Olympics.. The divide between racing’s authorities over the pooling of media rights grew even wider yesterday as Britain’s racecourses admitted that agreement between them and the British Horseracing Board “is not yet in sight”. The divide between racing’s authorities over the pooling of media rights grew even wider yesterday as Britain’s racecourses admitted that agreement between them and the British Horseracing Board “is not yet in sight”.
On Monday the Racecourse Association agreed in principle to the pooling of all media rights, conditional upon what they saw as a satisfactory distribution of income. However, on Thursday the BHB rejected the RCA’s proposals.A statement from the RCA yesterday said: “The RCA is naturally disappointed that BHB members rejected, at the meeting yesterday, the RCA proposal for pooling rights.