The second-fastest man on the planet will have the fastest one cheering for him in the stands at the Commonwealth Games' men's 100m finals, in Australia’s Gold Coast on Monday, 9 April.
Yohan Blake, whose speed on the track is second only to Usain Bolt, will have his acclaimed countryman in the stands when he attempts to light up the athletics arena in the 100m final tomorrow.
"He should be flying in on the eighth or the ninth, one of them. I'm looking forward to it. This morning he messaged me on Instagram and said 'I believe in you,’" Blake said after his semifinal run, which he topped with a timing of 10.06 seconds.
Bolt retired at last year's World Championships in London, leaving a vacuum in the dope-tainted athletics arena that would be hard to fill in near future.
The ongoing Commonwealth Games is the first major event to have a 100m final in the post-Bolt era.
Former world champion Blake is being seen as one of the stars, who can perhaps be the clean face of international athletics. And he is quite enjoying the spotlight he is in.
It’s good, it can encourage a lot of kids, just to keep it basic, and don’t think too much into it. Just come here and get the job done. Usain told me ‘Yohan, you’ve got to win, you know what it means, you know you can’t go back home.Yohan Blake
On his thoughts on the final run on Monday, Blake said there is enough in his belly to bring out something special for the sports-loving Australian fans.
"There's a lot more in the tank. I'll just be going and speaking to my coach, seeing what he says, then tomorrow I will come back and lay it down," he said.
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