SIX-TIME Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has joked that Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Brazil won’t be fast enough to catch him. Bolt made the comments, clearly as a joke, during an interview on the American Today show. Asked if was concerned about Zika heading into August’s Olympics, Bolt said: “Hopefully, by the time I get there, they’ll have it under control.

 I’m sure they’ll put things in place to sort it out. So I’m not really stressed right now” - before some nudging on Peter Alexander’s part sparked the more flippant response from the runner.

Interviewer Alexander then said: “Your mates on your team tell me that the mosquitoes usually stay away from you. What up with that - why are the mosquitoes intimidated by Usain Bolt?”

To which Bolt replied: “Because I’m fast. They can’t catch me.”

Bolt is aiming to do the 100m, 200m and 100m relay treble for an unprecedented third straight time.

Brazil has been the epicentre of the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease, which is blamed for birth defects in babies born to women infected with the virus.

As well as causing the birth defect microcephaly in babies born to women infected with the virus, it has also been linked to the rare but serious neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Last week, the World Health Organisation advised pregnant women not to travel to Rio and urged athletes and visitors to take precautions to avoid infection by Zika.

Meanwhile, before the interview Bolt had made a bold statement on the track.

In just his second race of the year the six-time Olympic champion flew past the field to claim the Golden Spike 100m victory in 9,98 seconds.

The victory in Ostrava is Bolt’s fastest 100m run this early in the season since the Jamaican ran 9,82 at the Jamaican Invitational in May 2012 — the year he won Olympic gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m.

With no competition on Friday — decathlon world record-holder Ashton Eaton pulled out of the race from injury — Bolt easily beat every competitor in the field.

Prior to the race in Ostrava, Bolt told meet organisers that he wanted to run 9,8 and looked visibly disappointed when he saw the winning time of 9,99, which was eventually lowered to 9,98 after further examination by the timers.

The world record-holder opened up his season last week at the Cayman Invitational, where he split an easy 10,05 to win the 100m. 

Despite a recent hamstring scare, Bolt maintained his health for the race in Ostrava. - NZ Herald/Flotrack