LEADING Team Scotland athletes have insisted that claims Usain Bolt described the Commonwealth Games as a 'bit s***' will not affect lasting perceptions of the event.
Gold medal winning swimmer Dan Wallace, bronze hammer thrower Mark Dry and the country's flag-bearer Euan Burton spoke out yesterday as other officials and London Olympics organiser Lord Coe hailed Glasgow 2014's success.
Judo gold medallist Burton believes Bolt's apparent comments to a newspaper reporter will have little impact.
"First of all, no one knows whether he's said it or not," he told a fan event in Candleriggs yesterday. "Secondly if you listen to the crowds out here and you listen to the crowds in the stadiums, everyone is loving the Games being in Glasgow."
He added: "The Glaswegian public and the Glaswegian crowd have taken (the Games) to their hearts, so I don't think it's going to affect anyone."
Burton's dismissal of the alleged comments, which the world's fastest man, Bolt denies making, came as a transcript of the conversation between Bolt and the reporter - in which the controversial comments emerged - was published.
In it, Bolt apparently looked up at the grey sky when asked about whether he was enjoying being at the Games. He said: "I'm just not... it's a bit s**t."
Dry said: "It was only supposed comments and he's been a great ambassador for the sport. He's a big name but he's not the only guy in athletics. He has done some incredible stuff, the guy's a hero and the world record holder.
"These Games are just a little different, it's not the Usain Bolt show, it's the Glasgow show; it's Glasgow 2014, not Usain Bolt 2014.
"People are always going to ask him for comments, ask his opinion, but I'm more interested in what the people think of the Games, not what he thinks."
Triple Commonwealth swimming medallist Wallace, again wearing a kilt, thought Bolt's apparent comments were irrelevant.
"I think as a home nation we have put on a great show and we've all done well in our sports. He can say what he wants but I've really enjoyed myself."
British Olympic Association chairman Lord Coe also heaped praise on the event, saying that it had been a "sensational" Games.
The two-time Olympic 1500m champion, 57, spearheaded the London Olympics from bidding through to staging.
He said: "I think they've been sensational on pretty much every level. Organisationally it has been executed flawlessly and the city has absorbed the experience."
Bolt's countrymen and women defended him yesterday, saying that they thought it unlikely the sprinter would knowingly disparage the Commonwealth Games.
Jamaican High Commissioner Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, said: "He seemed to be having such a wonderful time. Every picture I see him in he's been out and about, mixing with people and waving the flag."
Swimmer Jevon Atkinson said the he and some of his teammates had gone to a train station instead of taking official transport so he could "embrace the culture" in Glasgow.
The group spent an hour talking to fans and dancing to Reggae music, taking pictures and 'selfies' on their phones.
He said: "I can understand how he [Bolt] feels. This is how great Glasgow is. It's difficult to be an ordinary walk-along-the-road person. It's hard for someone like Usain. He's mobbed wherever he goes and he does not have a private life in these places."
Elsewhere, other aspects of the Games were praised.
The decision to merge para-sport events into the Games also drew praise from celebrated track and para-athlete Chantal Petitclerc, who said she hoped that other multi-sport events have been inspired to follow the lead of Glasgow 2014 with large para-sport programmes.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article