Bolt's warning to Blake

Usain Bolt jokingly warned Yohan Blake there would be "problems" if he failed to win a medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The pressure is on Blake to fill the huge void left by sprinting icon Bolt's retirement from athletics following last year's IAAF World Championships.

The eight-time Olympic gold medallist, the world record holder over 100 and 200 metres, playfully suggested to his former Jamaica team-mate that failure on the Gold Coast will land him trouble.

"Usain Bolt was at the track in Jamaica before I left," Blake told the media upon his arrival in Australia. "He said: 'If you don't win there is going to be problems.'

"I don't have a Commonwealth medal. It's very important for me to have one in my trophy case."

Blake endured a disappointing 2017, missing out on a World Championships medal in the 100m and failing to make the 200m final.

However, Bolt is the only man to go faster than his 100m personal best of 9.69 seconds, and the 28-year-old has set the second-quickest time of 2018.

"Usain Bolt has left his legacy for us to carry on and that's what we want to do," said Blake, who will be the favourite for glory following Andre De Grasse's withdrawal.

"That's what I want, to start with the Commonwealths, to take over the dominance of the sprinting world.

"It will be a better year this one and I want the Commonwealth Games to set the year up for me.

"We are ready to go. My body is great. Australia is where it all begins."

 

Photo by Getty Images. Caption: Usain Bolt (C) and Yohan Blake (L) at the 2017 IAAF World Championships