Sprint king Usain Bolt hit by a cameraman on Segway while celebrating his 200m win at World Athletics Championships. Jamaican jokes that American rival Justin Galtin had 'paid to get him killed'
Somebody has tried to 'kill' Usain Bolt. And the Jamaican sprint king, who blazed to yet another sprint double after retaining his world 200 metres crown in Beijing on Thursday, has 'blamed' his American rival Justin Gatlin.
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The attempt to 'take him out' came while during Bolt's lap of honour where he was bizarrely run over by a Chinese cameraman trying to film him while riding a two-wheeled Segway scooter.
A Chinese cameraman trips in a melee with Usain Bolt of Jamaica while he celebrates his men’s 200 metres final win of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships at Beijing National Stadium on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images
The bizarre accident happened when the cameraman strayed too close to a barefoot Bolt. The offending cameraman hit a metal rail on the side of the track and veered right into the back of Bolt. He hit the Jamaican in the legs and both fell backward onto the track.
Bolt got up gingerly and limped away before continuing his victory lap.
“They tried to kill me!,” a grinning Bolt told the BBC after his tumble.
“I don’t know what’s going on! That guys’ winning too much!”
"He took me out," said the Jamaican after videos of his mishap quickly went viral.
"The rumour I'm trying to start right now is that Justin Gatlin paid him off, so that's what I'm going with. But I'm all right so it's all good."
Bolt's American rival shot back: "I want my money back, he didn't complete the job!"
Jamaica's Usain Bolt is helped up after getting knocked down by a cameraman, after winning the 200m finals at the 2015 IAAF World Championships at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing on Thursday. Pic/AFP
Lucky to escape with only his pride hurt, Bolt pondered getting his legs insured in case of future bumps and scrapes.
"I probably should get my legs insured," smiled the six-times Olympic champion.
"It was pretty scary when it happened but accidents happen.
"I have a few cuts but it's nothing that I've never done to myself in training so I'll be all right," added Bolt.
"He didn't hit me in my ankles, he hit my in my calf area so I'll get over it."
Bolt revealed that the red-faced cameraman had apologised for mowing down the biggest name in athletics. "He said sorry as much as he could," said Bolt with a chuckle.
"But I checked to make sure if he was okay because I think he got the worst of it. He was off-balance going backwards and I'm not sure if he hit his head but I'm just happy that he's okay. I'm fine so it's all fun."
In the chaos that followed the final, Bolt also lost his spikes to a spectator who ran away with them. "When I jumped over the fence I gave a guy who was calling me my spikes to hold," he said. "When I did my interview I looked around and he was gone, he was just running."
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