Usain Bolt sent out an unnerving warning to his fellow sprinters ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, vowing to stop his clown act to concentrate on breaking his own world records next summer.
Bolt's desire to knuckle down came as the IAAF confirmed Sunday there would be no change to the zero tolerance false-start rule that saw the superstar sprinter ejected from the 100-meter final at the World Championships.
Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, said the potential revision of the rule had not been discussed and emphatically ruled out any future review, saying, "You should not have any illusions; we will not go back on the issue again."
Bolt said he accepted the punishment.
"I left the blocks. It was my fault, so I'm not going to say that the rule should be changed," he said, adding, "But next time I'll relax, wait and listen, not try to anticipate the gun."
The Jamaican made no mistake from the blocks as he successfully defended his 200-meter world title in Daegu, South Korea, on Saturday night. Afterward, he said he would up his work ethic in defense of his Olympic titles.
"It will be all serious," he said. "I won't be playing around, because I want to break those records. The Olympics is a big milestone for me, so there'll be no joking around. I'll be even more determined to be a legend in the sport."
Bolt ran 19.40 seconds Saturday, the fourth-fastest time in history, to retain his 200-meter gold at the World Championships, a performance that pleased the sprint king, but only because, he said, he's not in his best shape.
Although comfortably ahead of nearest challenger Walter Dix, Bolt uncharacteristically powered all the way to the line.
"I wasn't running angry," he said. "I was running hard just to say sorry to the fans for the 100-meter."
Afterward he spoke of his nightmare false-start that stripped him of the chance to retain his 100-meter world title. Bolt said he would probably have run 9.6 or 9.7 seconds in the race Aug. 28 before "anxiety" got the better of him.
"I would like to explain the 100-meter," he said. "I felt so good, I was so ready to go that in the holding area I kept saying, 'Let's go, let's go' because I wanted to get on the track. Anxiety got the best of me. I was in the blocks, and after he said 'set,' a second after that, I thought I heard someone say 'go.' "
The removal of the fastest man in history from the showcase final led to widespread calls to reinstate a false-start rule that gave athletes a second chance.
Diack passionately defended the body's stance and rejected accusations the rule had been changed to keep events better on track with broadcasters.
"I am one of those who defend the idea that the rule should be kept. It's not because it's Bolt that we should change the rules," said Diack, who is from Senegal. "In the past, any athlete could have a false start. We did not adopt the rule for television but for the credibility of our sport. Some athletes voluntarily did false starts, and they remained in the race. We have to stop such mistakes."
Bolt closed the World Championships by running the anchor leg as Jamaica broke its world record in the 400-meter relay. The Jamaicans were timed in 37.04 seconds.
