Usain Bolt has taken his first strides toward his goal of an unprecedented Olympic sprints three-peat in Rio with an easy 100m victory at the Cayman Invitational.
The 29-year-old Jamaican had a moderate start in his season-opening race before stepping away from the field in the last 60 metres and cruising to the tape in a modest 10.05s on Saturday.
Bolt's time was the third slowest in an international career boasting the 100 and 200m titles at the last two Olympics along with golds in the 4x100 relays.
But the 29-year-old was satisfied with his first test since last year's world championships in Beijing, where he added another three titles to his honour roll before calling a premature end to his season.
"I'm just glad I got out of that one injury-free, It's a season-opener so you never know what to expect," said Bolt after beating Jason Rodgers of St. Kitts and Nevis (10.12) and third-placed compatriot Kemar Bailey-Cole (10.18).
"I haven't run all season so I expected to be rusty, and just like last season, I need more races to get sharp.
"So I'm not worried, just about working up to the top now.
"Now my coach (Glen Mills) can analyse the race, see what we need to do, see what we need to work on and move from there."
Bolt conceded he still had work to do before Jamaica's Olympic trials at the end of June.
"I wanted to run fast, I was feeling good in training. But you never know because running in training and running at a track meet is two different things.
"It's all about race fitness, so like last year, I need to get a few more races under my belt and by trials time I'll be ready I'm sure."
On the other side of the world, American Justin Gatlin showed he remains one of Bolt's biggest obstacles to Olympic glory with a 9.94 second run to win the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.
