New York, Sep 4 (IANS) Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has slammed ESPN reporter Max Kellerman's comments on track and field athletes, saying people are always on the lookout to "disrespect" the discipline.
"Why ppl always want to disrespect Track and Field Athletes.. smh (sic)," Bolt said in a tweet.
In a television show recently, Kellerman said that failed football and basketball players go on to become track and field stars. Bolt was among many who have expressed their displeasure at his comments.
"It's only a sport by a very broad definition," Kellerman was quoted as saying by www.thebiglead.com
"It only tests your fast twitches, right? Like, how fast can you go from Point A to Point B? How fast can you do that? Well, that's an athletic ability but it's only one specific kind. We don't know his manual dexterity, we don't know his ability to think on the fly etc, which is why track & field stars are usually failed football and basketball players. The best athletes -- because that's where the money is -- go to basketball and football and the others fall down to track & field," he had said.
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist and legendary track and field star Carl Lewis also chided the comments.
"You take your privilege filled with failure, and troll just for attention. We've seen this movie... say more and more until you've gone to far. The sad thing is that you're the last to know. Athletes strive for excellence. And then we have you," he tweeted.
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