... Sprint king says lack of food, sleep may have contributed to poor Ostrava showing

Lightning-fast sprinter Usain Bolt believes that a lack of food and sleep may have contributed to his poor performance in Ostrava last week, but insists he is over it ahead of tomorrow's Rome Diamond League meeting.

Bolt battled back to claim first spot after spending an eternity in the starting blocks, eventually posting a pedestrian 10.04, his slowest time recorded as a professional athlete. And, the double world record holder has struggled to explain the performance ever since.

"I explained to my coach (Glen Mills) that my legs were not feeling that energetic, probably through a lack of sleep and not enough food," the 25-year-old Jamaican told UK online publication Mail Online (www.dailymail.co.uk).

"Since I got here I've been trying to get a lot more sleep and eating better, so everything is seeming to be on a better track."

Despite the London Olympic Games being only a few months away, the sprinter insists the performance ahead of his bid to defend both his 100m and 200 titles at global athletics' showcase event will not have an impact on his frame of mind.

"You never have a good race every time you run. You have to just put that behind you and move on. It's not a worry. I have a lot more races, and the main one is at the Olympics," Bolt said.

"I have set a high standard for myself so I know people like to see me run fast. I can't look at it as pressure. People expect you to do certain things. I know I will have my bad races, but I have to stay strong and focused."

"I never stress over things like this," said the 25-year-old, who won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Beijing four years ago.

"I've gone through so much, so many things, that even if I lose every race up to the Olympics, it doesn't matter because I know that I have one focus, and that is just to go to the Olympics, and do great things."