Usain Bolt -- the fastest man on the planet -- is once again expected to light up the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, the venue of the IAFF World Athletics Championship, which is going to host the top athletes from 22 August for nine days.
Bolt is going to be a key member of team Jamaica in the championship and the Caribbean island nation expects a few medals from the Olympic champion. However, Bolt will not travel to Japan for the pre-World Championship camp with Jamaica, and will instead fly directly to Beijing.
Jamaica's team manager Ludlow Watts confirmed about the same. "He's (Bolt) the only one who is not in camp, because you know he was undergoing some amount of examination while he was preparing at the same time," Watts told Reuters.
As per the original schedule, Bolt was expected to train in Japan along with his teammates, but the team management at the last moment felt it was better that Bolt flies straight to the venue as the rest of the contingent are also expected to travel to Beijing soon.
"He was to come in (camp in Japan) but at the last moment it was decided that he should not come, considering that the team is just two days away from traveling to Beijing," said Watts.
"It was considered necessary that he should perhaps go to the venue of the competition directly, rather than coming here."
The World Championship in Beijing is just a few days away and fans around the world will be eager to witness Bolt in action in the 100m, which has always been one of the most popular disciplines in athletics.
The sprint event has become even spicier and interesting considering Justin Galtin's performance this season, as the American has been running very fast, despite his age of 33. Gatlin's performances in the Diamond League at Lausanne and Monaco have been really good, with the American timing 9.75 and 9.78 seconds respectively.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, looks in fine form ahead of the World Championships and is expected to provide stiff competition to Bolt, who has been struggling with injuries in the last couple of years.