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Early life and world junior championships

First world record in the 100 meters, 2008 olympics and more world records, 2012 olympics, 2016 olympics and retirement.

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Table Of Contents

Usain Bolt first gained notice as a track prodigy at the 2002 world junior championships. Racing before a crowd of 36,000 in Jamaica ’s National Stadium in Kingston, Bolt—just 15 years old at the time—won a gold medal in the 200-metre race, becoming the youngest-ever male world junior champion in any event.

What was Usain Bolt’s childhood like?

Usain Bolt was the son of grocers in Jamaica ’s rural Trelawny parish. He excelled as a cricket fast bowler in his preteen years and developed a deep affection for the European football (soccer) teams Real Madrid and Manchester United .

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won gold medals in the 100-metre and 200-metre races in an unprecedented three straight Olympic Games and is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time. At 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 metres), Bolt defied the conventional wisdom that very tall sprinters are disadvantaged as fast starters.

Usain Bolt (born August 21, 1986, Trelawny parish, Jamaica) is a Jamaican sprinter who won gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter races in an unprecedented three straight Olympic Games ( 2008 , 2012 , and 2016 ). He is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time.

Bolt is the son of grocers in Sherwood Content, the town in Jamaica’s rural Trelawny parish where he grew up. He excelled as a cricket fast bowler in his preteen years. He developed a deep affection for the European football (soccer) teams Real Madrid and Manchester United , but his school coaches steered him toward track and field .

Silhouette of hand holding sport torch behind the rings of an Olympic flag, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; February 3, 2015.

Bolt first marked himself as a track prodigy at the 2002 world junior championships. In that meet, racing before a crowd of 36,000 in Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston, Bolt—just 15 years old at the time—won gold in the 200 meters , becoming the youngest-ever male world junior champion in any event.

At age 16 Bolt cut the junior (age 19 and under) 200-meter world record to 20.13 sec, and at 17 he ran the event in 19.93 sec, becoming the first teenager to break 20 seconds in the race. However, hampered by a hamstring injury, he failed to advance beyond the 200-meter heats at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and placed last in the 2005 world track-and-field championships final.

At 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 meters), Bolt defied the conventional wisdom that very tall sprinters are disadvantaged as fast starters. In 2007 he appeared newly dedicated to his training and earned a silver medal in the 200 meters at the world championships.

He also persuaded his coach to let him try the 100 meters , and he ran 10.03 sec in his first professional race at the distance. On May 3, 2008, he lowered his best time to 9.76 sec, then the world’s second fastest mark. Four weeks later in New York City , Bolt broke the world record, running 9.72 sec to defeat world champion Tyson Gay.

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing , Bolt became the first man since American Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay in a single Olympics and the first ever to set world records (9.69 sec, 19.30 sec, and 37.10 sec, respectively) in all three events. (However, a failed drug test by one of his 4 × 100 teammates led to Bolt’s having his gold medal in that event stripped.) His 0.66-sec winning margin in the 200-meter race was the largest in Olympic history, and his 0.20-sec edge over the second-place finisher in the 100 meters, despite beginning his victory celebration about 80 meters into the race, was the largest since Lewis won by the same margin.

At the 2009 world championships, Bolt shattered his 100-meter record, winning the event final in 9.58 sec. Four days later he broke his own 200-meter record by the same 0.11-sec margin to win a second gold medal at the world championships.

Bolt was the heavy favorite in the sprint events heading into the 2011 world championships, but a false start disqualified him from the 100-meter final. Despite failing to medal in his signature race, Bolt recovered to capture golds in the 200 meters and the 4 × 100-meter relay, helping to set a new world record in the latter event.

At the 2012 Olympics in London , Bolt defended his titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter events (setting an Olympic record in the former) to become the first person to win both races in consecutive Olympiads.

In 2013 he won three gold medals at the world championships (100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay).

At the 2015 world championships Bolt again won gold medals in his three signature events (100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay), and his fourth career 200-meter gold extended his record for most wins in that race at the world championships.

Bolt cemented his role as the best sprinter in history at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games , where he captured golds in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4 × 100-meter relay events, becoming the first person to win golds in the two individual sprints in three straight Olympics.

He retired from athletics after the 2017 world championships, where he won a bronze medal in the 100-meter sprint and finished in eighth place as a member of the 4 × 100-meter relay team after injuring a hamstring during the final.

Bolt published a memoir, My Story: 9:58: The World’s Fastest Man (written with Shaun Custis), in 2010. It was expanded and reissued as The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt in 2012.

Biography Online

Usain Bolt Biography

Usain was born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content, a small town in Trelawny, Jamaica. As a youngster he was mostly interested in sports, spending time playing football, cricket and basketball. At one time he considered a career as a cricketer but, his natural talent for sprinting shone through, and so he was encouraged to take sprinting more seriously. At 15 years old, Usain already towered over his fellow competitors. Growing to a height of 6 foot 5 inches, Bolt showed a sprinter need not be short and powerful like previous sprinting greats. bo In 2002, he won Gold at the World Junior Championships in the 200 metres. At this stage in his career, Usain appeared to give the impression of being quite laid back. He didn’t lead an austere disciplined life but enjoyed dancing and the night-life of Kingston, Jamaica. However, he was still training hard and won Gold at the World Youth Championship in the next year at 2003.

In 2004, Bolt turned professional, under the guidance of new coach Fitz Coleman. He began his career with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda. He became the first junior sprinter to break 20 seconds for the 200 metres. By 2005, Usain had a new coach Glen Mills who encouraged Usain to take a more professional approach and not just rely on his natural talent. Over the next few years, injury setbacks curtailed his career, but, he was still able to climb the rankings.

His big breakthrough came in the 2007 World Championships where he gained silver in the 200m and 4*100 metre relay. Bolt established a new 100m world record on 31 May 2008. Pushed on by a tailwind of 1.7 m/s, Bolt ran 9.72 s at the Reebok Grand Prix held at the Icahn Stadium in New York City, breaking Powell’s record.

2008 Olympics

2012 Olympics

Bolt won three gold medals, despite being beaten by his training partner, Yohan Blake during pre-Olympic events at the Jamaican national championships. Bolt won the 100m and 200m and was part of the team that set a new world record in the men’s 100m relay.

2013 World Championships

At the 2013 World Championships, Bolt again won a unique triple of gold at 100m, 200m and 100m relay.

Usain Bolt in 2014

Bolt’s 2014 season was marred by injury which reduced his racing programme. Bolt has stated that his body has become more prone to injury as his athletic career progresses. In the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Bolt chose not to run in the individual 100m, but he did compete in the 100m relay. Bolt anchored the team to a gold medal and proved to be the star attraction of the games.

2016 Olympics

Bolt’s run up to the 2016 Olympics was not ideal with frequent injury problems curtailing his racing and training. However, he was determined to finish with a flurry and announced he would retire shortly after the 2016 Games.

Bolt was the undoubted superstar of the Games, and despite poor attendances in Rio, Bolt always managed to attract a full crowd. Bolt again managed to win gold in all three events – the 100m, 200m and 100m relay. It was a perfect bag of nine Olympic golds – a feat never before achieved.

Bolt has announced that he will retire from athletics after the 2016 Olympics.

Usain Bolt and drugs

Usain Bolt has shown tremendous talent ever since he first started running. His timings are consistent with an athlete of tremendous talent. As Bolt himself says:

“I was the youngest person to win the world juniors at 15. I ran the world junior [200] record 19.93 at [17] … I have broken every record there is to break, in every event I have ever done. “For me, I have proven myself since I was 15. … I have shown everything throughout the years since I was always going to be great.”

Usain Bolt is regularly tested by the IAAF international testing pool and has never tested positive. However, inevitably given the history of the sport, questions have been raised about the issue of drug use. The biggest cause for concern has been from the perceived inadequacies of the Jamaican Athletic Federation. In 2013, it emerged that they had failed to undertake proper out of competition testing in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. This failure to implement proper drug testing was compounded by six Jamaican athletes – including the former world 100m record holder Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell-Brown, testing positive for banned substances. WADA announced an extraordinary audit of the Jamaican testing programme, and have even threatened to ban Jamaican athletes from international competition. ( link ) Bolt has frequently stated that he is clean

“I was made to inspire people and to run, and I was given the gift and that’s what I do,” the six-time Olympic champion said. “I am confident in myself and my team, the people I work with. And I know I am clean. “So I’m just going to continue running, using my talent and just trying to improve the sport.”

In Jan 2017, it was announced that Bolt’s teammate, Nesta Carter, from the 2008 Beijing Olympics had retroactively tested positive for a stimulant methylhexaneamine , and therefore the whole team were stripped of their gold medal.

Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships in London. In his last major 100m final, Bolt finished in 3rd place – slightly off his usual blistering pace, after an injury-hit year. In his last ever race, he was anchor leg in the 4x100m final. After receiving the baton he pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury and hobbled over the line.

Since retirement, he has been involved in setting up Jamaican food outlets in the UK. So far, he has insisted he has no plans to return to the track.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Biography of Usain Bolt ”, Oxford, UK – www.biographyonline.net . Last updated 20th January 2018.

Usain Bolt World Record Video

Personal Bests

100m: 9.58 s (WR, Berlin 2009)
150m: 14.35 s (WB, Manchester 2009)
200m: 19.19 s (WR, Berlin 2009)
400m: 45.28 s (Kingston 2007)

Olympic Results

2008 Beijing

Gold – 100 m
Gold – 200 m
Gold – 4×100 m relay

2012 London

World Championships

2017 Bronze – 100m
2015 Gold – 100m
2015 Gold – 200m
2015 Gold – 4x100m relay
2013 Gold – 100 m
2013 Gold – 200 m
2011 Gold – Daegu 4×100 m relay
2011 Gold – Daegu 200 m
2009 Gold – Berlin 100 m
2009 Gold – Berlin 200 m
2009 Gold – Berlin 4×100 m relay
2007 Silver – Osaka 200 m
2007 Silver – Osaka 4×100 m relay

Faster than Lightning: Usain Bolt

Faster than Lightning: Usain Bolt at Amazon

It even looks like he’s even faster than the FLASH!

February 28, 2019 7:57 PM
By Joshua Fox

He is the fastest man in the world. He conquered many prizes in his career. He is my idol

February 22, 2019 3:04 PM
December 20, 2018 5:43 AM
By Robert Smith

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Usain Bolt has been, quite simply, the face of the last three Olympic Games. To win the event’s blue riband event, the 100m, just once, guarantees Olympic immortality. To do it three times at consecutive Games, and add the 200m and 4x100m relay titles to the mix, gives him a good case to be considered the greatest athlete of all time. Still only 33, he is a living legend. Add real charm and humour to the mix, and Bolt has been the superstar that the Games needed over the last decade and a bit.

Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica. He grew up as a sports-obsessed kid, excelling in football and cricket. At high school, his cricket coach encouraged him to try athletics seriously. It was a good decision, By the age of 16, in 2002, he was world junior champion.

By 2007, he was the fastest man in history, setting his first 100m world record, and a year later, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, he rose to international superstardom. In China, Bolt triumphed in the men’s 100m sprint, and then added the 200m and 4x100m title to secure a legendary triple. He broke the world record in all three events.

Further magic was to follow. At London 2012 he bagged the 100m again (beating his own Olympic record), added the 200m title, and then teamed up with the other Jamaican sprinters to take the 4x100m. A ‘double triple’ had been secured. That became the ‘triple triple’ at Rio 2016. Despite entering the Games not quite looking his best, Bolt once again secured all three titles – 100m, 200m and 4x100m – to make history once more.

Bolt had to return his 4x100m medal for Beijing 2008 after his teammate Nestor Carter was retroactively banned for a doping violation, but his personal record remains impeccable – and his sprinting record haul surely unbeatable.

Since his retirement in 2018, Bolt has remained extremely popular and high profile. He attempted to become a professional footballer – training with sides like Borussia Dortmund and Central Coast Mariners, as well as playing at Soccer Aid – and has got several business interests, including a new range of electric scooters.

Always a hit at personal appearances – he cropped up at the 2019 Super Bowl, where he equalled the fastest ever 40-yard dash – it seems like there will be a lot more to come from Bolt. The main challenge for the Olympic Games over the next decade? Finding another superstar of his stature.

I stopped worrying about the start. The end is what’s important.”

A stroke of luck

The vault, treasures of the olympics | full length, greg and jeanette go behind the scenes at the olympic museum | the vault, usain bolt replays, olympic results.

Athlete Olympic Results Content

Who Is Usain Bolt?

Quick facts, childhood and early successes, professional track and field, olympic career, records and awards, 'triple-triple' and loss of gold medal, other races, injury and retirement, soccer career, personal life and daughter.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was dubbed "the fastest man alive" after winning three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and becoming the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100- and 200-meter races in record times. Bolt also won three Olympic gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, along the way notching an Olympic-record time of 9.63 seconds in the 100 meters, making him the first man in history to set three world records in Olympic competition. He made history again at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio with gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races and 4x100-meter relay; the wins gave him a "triple-triple" — three golds over three consecutive Olympics — though he later was stripped of one of the relay golds because of a teammate's doping violation.

FULL NAME: Usain Bolt BORN: August 21, 1986 BIRTHPLACE: Trelawny, Jamaica CHILDREN: Daughter ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, in Jamaica. Both a standout cricket player and a sprinter early on, Bolt's natural speed was noticed by coaches at school, and he began to focus solely on sprinting under the tutelage of Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete. (Glen Mills would later serve as Bolt's coach and mentor.) As early as age 14, Bolt was wowing fans with his lightning speed, and he won his first high school championship medal in 2001, taking the silver in the 200-meter race.

At the age of 15, Bolt took his first shot at success on the world stage at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, where he won the 200-meter dash, making him the youngest world-junior gold medalist ever. Bolt's feats impressed the sports world, and he received the International Association of Athletics Foundation’s Rising Star Award that year, boosting the recognition of a young man soon to be known as "Lightning Bolt."

At the Berlin 2009 World Championships, Bolt set a world record time of 9.58 seconds for the 100m race, notching a top speed of 27.8 miles per hour (44.72 kilometers per hour) between meters 60 and 80, with an average speed of 23.5 mph.

Despite a nagging hamstring injury, Bolt was chosen for the Jamaican Olympic squad for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He was eliminated in the first round of the 200 meters, though, again hampered by injury.

Bolt reached the world Top 5 rankings in 2005 and 2006. Unfortunately, injuries continued to plague the 6'5" sprinter, preventing him from completing a full professional season.

In 2007, Bolt broke the national 200-meter record held for over 30 years by Donald Quarrie, and earned two silver medals at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. These medals boosted Bolt's desire to run, and he took a more serious stance toward his career.

At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Bolt ran the 100-meter and 200-meter events. In the 100-meter final leading up to the Games, he broke the world record, winning in 9.69 seconds. Not only was the record set without a favorable wind, but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished (and his shoelace was untied), an act that aroused much controversy later on. He went on to win three gold medals and break three world records in Beijing.

At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, Bolt won his fourth Olympic gold medal in the men's 100-meter race, beating rival Yohan Blake, who won silver in the event. Bolt ran the race in 9.63 seconds, a new Olympic record. The win marked Bolt's second consecutive gold medal in the 100. He went on to compete in the men's 200, claiming his second consecutive gold medal in that race as well. He became the first man to win both the 100 and 200 in consecutive Olympic Games, as well as the first man to ever win back-to-back gold medals in double sprints. Bolt's accomplishments made him the first man in history to set three world records in a single Olympic Games competition.

Bolt returned to Olympic glory at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games when he won gold in the 100-meter race, making him the the first athlete to win three successive titles in the event. He finished the race in 9.81 seconds with American runner and rival Justin Gatlin, who took silver, 0.08 seconds behind him.

“This is why I came here, to the Olympics, to prove to the world that I’m the best — again,” he told reporters at a news conference. “It always feels good to go out on top, you know what I mean?”

He continued his Olympic winning streak, taking gold in the 200 meters in 19.78 seconds. "What else can I do to prove I am the greatest?" Bolt said in an interview with BBC Sport . ”I'm trying to be one of the greatest, to be among [Muhammad] Ali and Pelé . I have made the sport exciting, I have made people want to see the sport. I have put the sport on a different level."

The "fastest man alive" remained undefeated in what he said would be the last race of his Olympic career, the 4x100-meter relay, which he ran with teammates Blake, Asafa Powell and Nickel Ashmeade. Anchoring the race, Bolt led the Jamaican team to gold, crossing the finish line in 37.27 seconds. It was the third consecutive gold medal win for Bolt in Rio.

In an interview with CBS News , Bolt detailed his pride over his 2012 performance: "It's what I came here to do. I'm now a legend. I'm also the greatest athlete to live. I've got nothing left to prove."

Bolt is an 11-time world champion. He holds the world records in races for 100 meters, at 9.58 seconds, and 200 meters, at 19.19 seconds, both of which he set at the 2009 Berlin World Athletics Championships. Over the course of his career, Bolt has received numerous awards, including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year (twice), Track & Field Athlete of the Year and Laureus Sportsman of the Year.

Participating in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 summer Olympic Games, Bolt completed a "triple-triple," with a total of nine gold medals earned in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay races. In doing so, Bolt joined just two other triple-triple runners: Paavo Nurmi of Finland (in 1920, 1924 and 1928) and Carl Lewis of the United States (in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996). However in January 2017, the International Olympic Committee stripped Bolt of one of these medals, for the 2008 4x100-meter relay, because his teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of a doping violation.

Bolt took back the 100-meter world title on August 11, 2013, after having lost the title in 2011. Although Bolt didn't strike his signature "lightning bolt" pose after the race, his winning image still caused a stir, with lightning striking just as he crossed the finish line.

In 2015, Bolt faced some challenges: He came in second at the Nassau IAAF World Relays in May, but secured an individual win in the 200-meter event at the Ostrava Golden Spike event that same month. He also dominated the 200-meter race at the New York Addias Grand Prix that June. Trouble with his pelvic muscles forced him to withdraw from two races, though Bolt made a comeback that July with a 100-meter win at London's Anniversary Games.

In 2017, Bolt faced challenges on the track at the World Athletics Championships. He finished third in the men's 100 meters, taking home the bronze medal behind Christian Coleman, who won silver, and Gatlin, who took home the gold. It was the first time that Bolt had been beaten at the World Athletics Championships since 2007. His struggles didn't end there: In the 4x100-meter relay, which many believed would be Bolt's final race, he collapsed from a hamstring injury and had to cross the finish line with the help of his teammates.

In August 2017, following the World Athletics Championships, Bolt announced his retirement from track and field. “For me I don’t think one championship is going to change what I’ve done,” he said at a press conference. “I personally won’t be one of those persons to come back.”

Bolt had long talked about eventually making a career in soccer. In August 2017, following his retirement from track and field, he planned to join Manchester United for a charity game against Barcelona, but he had to miss the match due to his hamstring injury. In September, Bolt said he was already in talks with several pro soccer teams, including Manchester United. “We have a lot of offers from different teams, but I have to get over my injury first and then take it from there,” he told reporters.

In October, Bolt reaffirmed his commitment to playing soccer. "For me it's a personal goal. I don't care what people really think about it. I'm not going to lie to myself. I'm not going to be stupid," he told reporters at the U.S. Formula One Grand Prix. "If I go out there and feel I can do this then I will give it a try. It's a dream and another chapter of my life. If you have a dream that you always wanted to do, why not try and see where it will go."

Bolt began training with the Central Coast Mariners of the Australian A-League in summer 2018 and scored two goals in a preseason match in October, but left shortly afterward when he was unable to agree to contract terms with the club.

The sprinter published the memoir My Story: 9:58: The World’s Fastest Man in 2010, which was reissued two years later as The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt . He followed in 2013 with Faster Than Lightning: My Autobiography .

In August 2016, People magazine confirmed that Usain Bolt was dating Jamaican model Kasi Bennett. Bolt has been private about their relationship, but he told a journalist in January 2017 that they had been dating for almost three years. In May 2020, it was revealed that Bennett had given birth to a daughter.

It’s what I came here to do. I’m now a legend. I’m also the greatest athlete to live. I’ve got nothing left to prove.
When I was young, I didn’t really think about anything other than sports.
I was slightly worried about my start. I didn’t want to false start again. So I think I sat in the blocks a little bit. It wasn’t the best reaction in the world, but I executed and that was the key.
In training, [Yohan Blake] always works hard and pushes me.
The trials woke me up... Yohan [Blake] gave me a wake-up call. He knocked on my door and said, “Usain, this is the Olympic year, wake up.” After that, I refocused and got my head together.
My coach said, “Stop worrying about your start, the best of your race is at the end, that's where you rule.” So I stopped worrying about my start and I executed, so it worked.
Some of you guys doubted me. I just had to show you I was the greatest.
I just wanted to make Jamaica proud. I hope they were all standing up singing the national anthem.
For everybody who was in the race tonight, the four other fastest guys in the world, it was a real honor for me.
I was happy. When I went out in the first run, I felt, “I can do this.”
I’m a living legend.
I’m just going out there all the time to do my thing and show the world I’m probably the best.

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A Conversation with Usain Bolt – The World’s Fastest Man

We often talk about people that have ‘ it ,’ that natural, incredible talent to do things that defy our sense of what is possible. It may be the genius of a scientist who discovers something that changes the world. It may be the ingenuity of an entrepreneur who builds a global business, or it may be someone like Usain Bolt , arguably the most gifted athlete the world has ever seen.

Michael Johnson , one of the world’s most celebrated Olympians said of Usain, “ There is no athlete that can compete with him … he’s a global superstar… ” great praise indeed, but not without reason. We’re talking here about someone who is regarded as the fastest human ever timed- the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time became mandatory.

Usain created history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he achieved the ‘ Triple Triple ’, three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. His journey to worldwide stardom started at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where he won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, all in world record times. He followed this up with three gold medals in the same events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London to write his name in the history books as the world’s fastest man. Then one day before his 30th birthday he completed the same triple at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio to cement his legacy as a legend in world sport.

I caught up with Usain to learn more about what it takes to be the world’s fastest man…

Q: Why do you do what you do?

[Usain Bolt] I do what I do because I am good at it, I enjoy it and I have been successful doing it. God gave me a talent and I have worked extremely hard to fulfil this talent.

Q: What does success mean to you?

[Usain Bolt] Success for me has been the ability to change my life, change my family’s life and help a lot of other people. Athletics has brought me fame and fortune and I enjoy using it to help those around me and those less fortunate.

Q: How do you cope with the physical stresses of sport & travel?

[Usain Bolt] Travel is part of my job as track & field is a global sport and the competitions can be anywhere in the world. My team tries to plan my schedule so that I limit the amount of long haul flights I do in the months before a major championship but I have been doing it for a long time and am used to international travel by now.

Q: How do you look after your own mental health?

[Usain Bolt] I am not someone who puts a lot of pressure on myself. I love a challenge and live for the big stage of an Olympic Games or World Championships. Some people get nervous for the big events but I look forward to them.

I actually find the training much more mentally challenging that the competitions.

Q: What are the responsibilities of you- as a brand?

[Usain Bolt] I understand that I am a role model and my every move is watched and analysed. I have a good team around me who manage my brand from a commercial point of view. For me it is important that the kids see me for who I am – a good person who works hard but has fun.

Q: What does philanthropy and legacy mean to you?

[Usain Bolt] I work mainly with the Usain Bolt Foundation to help give opportunities to the next generation. I hope that my achievements can inspire people to work hard to be whoever they want to be whether that is in sport or business or entertainment or whatever. I feel that what I have achieved on the track – world records and three gold medals in three different Olympic Games – has cemented my name in sporting history.

Q: What inspires you?

[Usain Bolt] I see inspiration everywhere. My parents are a big inspiration for me. I remember how hard my Dad worked when I was young. My coach inspires me to train hard. I take inspiration from other leaders doing what they do whether that is in sport, entertainment, business, politics etc.

Q: Who are you?

[Usain Bolt] I am Usain. I am a proud Jamaican who can run fast and make people smile. I try to be myself whether I am hanging out with my friends or on the world stage. I try to enjoy life and treat people with respect.

Q: What would be your message to the generation after ours?

[Usain Bolt] I have shown that anything is possible. I always tell people not to limit themselves. Find out what you are good at or interested in and work hard to be successful in that. Have fun when you are doing it and life is better.

About the Author

Vikas Shah MBE DL is an entrepreneur, investor & philanthropist. He is CEO of Swiscot Group alongside being a venture-investor in a number of businesses internationally. He is a Non-Executive Board Member of the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and a Non-Executive Director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Vikas was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in Her Majesty the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List and in 2021 became a Deputy Lieutenant of the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy. He is an Honorary Professor of Business at The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester and Visiting Professors at the MIT Sloan Lisbon MBA.

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Usain Bolt: The Lightning Journey

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Early Achievements and Breakthrough

World Junior Championships and Records

Professional career under fitz coleman, triumphs and challenges, 2011 daegu world championships and redemption, london olympics 2012: a historic triumph, beyond records: bolt's personality.

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Why we should all learn from Usain Bolt

Posted by Euan Crumley | Dec 3, 2020 | 0

Colin Jackson would love to see the man voted by AW readers as the Greatest male athlete of the past 75 years sharing his athletics knowledge and insight with the world

While much of Usain Bolt’s time is currently being taken up by being a new dad to baby daughter Olympia, he has not been lost entirely to the sport of athletics.

His friend and former world sprint hurdles champion Colin Jackson hopes it stays that way.

The Jamaican sprint superstar retired after the world championships of 2017, ending a career which was laden with the sport’s major prizes and world records.

He does a lot of work via his Usain Bolt Foundation but, while potential roles have been mooted by World Athletics, nothing official has been put in place just yet in terms of playing a role in the sport’s future.

Bolt has been voted by AW readers as the Greatest male athlete of the last 75 years and Jackson believes the knowledge and skill of the eight-time Olympic champion must be tapped into.

Bolt can be found coaching Glen Mills’ group in Kingston but Jackson would also love to see the development of a more global role for him.

“He does go down the track to coach,” says the former 110m hurdles world record-holder. “He’s very much part of that. Sometimes people say it’s a bit distracting for them, as you can imagine, but they all know who he is down there so they don’t treat him as a god – he’s just Usain – and that’s great because it means they get the best out of him.”

However, Jackson adds: “What I’d love him to get involved in – and I don’t know if he’d ever do this – is to go on proper world tours, giving seminars and insights into the life of a superstar in our sport.

“The messages he could give out to many youngsters I think would have a good, positive influence.

“He knows a hell of a lot and we should learn from him. He’s not just this world symbol – there’s more to him than that. Just listen to what he has to say because there may be one or two diamonds in there. Learn from the best.”

READ MORE: Usain Bolt and Tirunesh Dibaba voted ‘The Greatest’

What made Bolt so great? Jackson believes it was a dedication to his craft and that, despite outward appearances, an acknowledgement of his frailties.

“He knows his sport inside out – he loves athletics and that is really important,” says Jackson. “An athletics connoisseur, that’s for sure.

“He also scrutinised his own performances a lot. He didn’t take anything for granted.

“People would always think ‘he’s Usain Bolt, of course he’s always in front’ but he had his demons that he dealt with as well. His uncertainty – lots of times he was unsure at what he could do.

“Just because you’re the fastest man on the planet, doesn’t mean you’re not petrified of your opposition! He felt he was vulnerable in places and that’s a good thing because it meant he was always kept on his toes.”

A key example of this, says Jackson, came in 2015 when Bolt had been beset with injury problems and was preparing to face America’s Justin Gatlin – who had come back from a doping ban – at the world championships in Beijing. It was dubbed the battle of good versus evil.

“In 2015 when he was struggling with injury and coming back all the time, having a lack of races and competitions while Justin Gatlin was flying,” says Jackson. “In his own mind he put himself as the underdog when no-one else in the world did.

“He wasn’t even sure he was going to win the 100m, while everyone else in the world was thinking ‘surely he should win it’.”

Of course Bolt did win it, by 0.01 seconds, with Steve Cram proclaiming in commentary at the time: “He’s saved his title, he’s saved his reputation – he may have even saved his sport.”

Usain Bolt has been working with coach Glen Mills’ training group. Photo credit: I Am Bolt

Expectations were always high when it came to Bolt – and were rarely ever dampened by his performances – but, as Jackson points out, he wasn’t perfect.

“He was like every athlete out there – he’d do one thing really well but then he forget the other bits of it,” laughs the Welshman. “When he focused on the start he’d think ‘yes, that’s a great start’ but would then realise ‘oh lord, I haven’t done the drive phase, I haven’t done this, I haven’t done that’ because he has been so focused on other elements.

“He was honest too and would tell you ‘I lost it there, I didn’t do what I should have done there, my pick-up was terrible’.

“We paint the picture of him being this iconic figure that is untouchable but in reality he is a normal guy blessed with incredible height and skill – and he applied it so well.”

He was also aided, insists Jackson, by his battles with injury.

“Injuries helped him because it meant he had to be careful and he could never over-race,” he adds. “He always had to prepare quite meticulously. That played to his advantage.

“It meant he could take his time and always be ready at the right moments – and the right moments were championships.

“When it really came down to it, he’d deliver the performance we all wanted to see.”

» Read the 75th anniversary edition of AW for more on Usain Bolt’s remarkable career – and an in-depth look at the world record-breaking double of Berlin 2009. Click here to order a copy of our special diamond anniversary issue

» Photos are from I Am Bolt, which was released in 2016 and can be bought here

» For more on the latest athletics news, athletics events coverage and athletics updates, check out the AW homepage and our social media channels on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram

Tags: Colin Jackson , Glen Mills , Photo credit: I Am Bolt , Usain Bolt , Usain Bolt Foundation

About The Author

Euan Crumley

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Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter Research Paper

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Introduction

Works cited.

Usain Bolt is the sprinter who at the moment holds the world record in 100m and 200m running events and has won the gold medal for no less than 6 times. He is the best performing sprinter in the account of the Olympic Games for his ability to break speed records. He has attained an impressively high speed of 27.79 mph and has the best frame in the world.

Usain Bolt engages in planned training that is aimed at enhancing his speed and swiftness as well as retaining a proper physique. His training entails exercises for muscles to develop strength and assist in acquiring sprinting skills that make him flexible while stretching the stride. The sprinter takes on a workout that is necessary for on-track powerful performance. The training allows the sprinter to start well at the blocks and hasten progressively at the finishing point (Hornyak 2).

Training Duration

For Usain Bolt, training is mainly in the gym for general body workout, strength, and power, and on the track for practical and enduring aspects of the race. Typically, Usain Bolt takes 90 minutes each day in the gym for workouts where he does three sets of moves for 30 seconds before resting for another 30 seconds. His training takes place 6 times a week and lasts from 11 months to a year. The sessions are both in the morning and afternoon (Kanosue et al. 15).

Type of Training

Usain Bolt does mainly two types of training namely speed and weight training. Weight training has two phases, which are workout 1 and 2, and involves various moves. Speed training is divided into stages that entail exercises on how to begin at the start block, fast-tracking, attaining the highest speed, and slowing down on finishing. He also does training on applying maximum force on the muscles to increase strength as part of speed training (Hyland 274-277).

Usain Bolt has to maintain proper eating habits to keep his body fit, enhance energy sufficiency, and prevent muscle irritation. His breakfast entails yellow yam, potato, cooked banana, salt fish, and Ackee- a Jamaican dish. His lunch constitutes of chicken breast and pasta, and he takes rice with peas and pork for dinner. The diet contains vital ingredients to meet the body’s requirements for vitamin C to fight muscle irritation, vitamin B for energy enhancement, and Potassium to act as an electrolyte. Usain Bolt keeps off fast foods as much as possible (Leech and Andrew 57-58).

The sprinter incorporates some equipment while training to enhance his speed. The speed ladder raises the pace and turnover of the foot and regulates how it is placed. Pull sled assists in resisting accelerative linear motion and it helps in fast-tracking training (Mironenko and Mirzoev 21). For fast-tracking and attaining high speed, a partner provides the sprinter with resistance for a short while and then sets him free to accelerate using Pull Harness. Weight vest has pouches for carrying a certain load that enables the sprinter to keep the right body position during sprinting alongside resistance.

Usain Bolt, a renowned sprinter, makes it clear that anyone can run with speed. To maintain stability and boost swiftness, however, laborious training and strict adherence to the proper diet are required. This is what has made Usain Bolt retain his position as the best performing sprinter.

Hornyak, Tim. “Smarter, not Harder.” Nature, vol. 549, no. 7670, 2017, pp. 1-3.

Hyland, Nicola. “Bolt and the Beast: Representing Reality and Keeping It Real in London 2012.” Text and Performance Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 3, 2014, pp. 267-285.

Kanosue, Kazuyuki, et al. Sports Performance . Springer Japan, 2015.

Leech, Johan, and Kylie Andrew. “The Emerging Prominence of Nutrition in Injury Management.” Sport Health, vol. 31, no. 1, 2013, pp. 57-59.

Mironenko, Irina, and Vladimir Mirzoev. “Usain Bolt: Running with Primary Display of Maximum Power under Competitive Conditions.” Theory and Practice of Physical Culture, vol. 2, no. 1, 2017, pp. 21-23.

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IvyPanda. (2020, October 25). Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter. https://ivypanda.com/essays/usain-bolt-as-the-best-performing-sprinter/

"Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter." IvyPanda , 25 Oct. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/usain-bolt-as-the-best-performing-sprinter/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter'. 25 October.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter." October 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/usain-bolt-as-the-best-performing-sprinter/.

1. IvyPanda . "Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter." October 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/usain-bolt-as-the-best-performing-sprinter/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter." October 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/usain-bolt-as-the-best-performing-sprinter/.

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Usain Bolt Essay Examples

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