MONACO:

Usain Bolt claims he'll be happy to successfully defend both sprint titles and stay injury-free at the world championships, ruling out the prospect of lowering his 100-metre world record.

The Jamaican will take on European champion Christophe Lemaitre of France and teammates Nesta Carter and Michael Frater at the Diamond League meet in Monaco on Friday. It's his last 100 before the worlds open August 27 in Daegu, South Korea.

hampered by injuries

After being hampered by injuries last season, Bolt's season-best time of 9.91 seconds is well short of his world mark.

"I'm not where I want to be. It is getting better but it's a long way from 9.58, for sure," Bolt said at a news conference yesterday. "I don't think I'll be in that form this season. But I definitely need to get to 9.6, 9.7. I'm working hard, I'm trying to stay focused on the job I have and it's coming together."

Bolt ended his season last August because of back and achilles' injuries after losing to Tyson Gay in Stockholm. He returned to that track in May to run his fastest 100 of the year. But he's wary of pushing his body too hard, citing his American rival's absence from the worlds following a hip operation.

"People think you just go and run fast," said Bolt, whose last race before the worlds will be in the 200 at Stockholm. "But when you get injured it's very hard, as you can see with Tyson Gay, to come back from injuries.