Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man on the Planet

Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican track and field athlete who specializes in running for short distances. He is unofficially called the fastest man on the planet. Eight-time Olympic champion, eleven-time world champion. During his professional career, he set eight world records.

The only athlete to win 100 and 200 meters three times at the Olympic Games. The most decorated Olympic champion in the history of Jamaican sports. The first track and field athlete to win 11 gold medals at the World Championships. He was nicknamed “Lightning” for his incredible speed.

Interesting facts about Usain Bolt

• As a child, he was fond of cricket and played for the school cricket team.
• Could have ended his career at an early age due to scoliosis
• One of the athlete’s legs is shorter than the other by almost 1.3 cm
• In 2009, he adopted a cheetah cub whose parents were killed by poachers and pays for its upkeep at a specialised animal sanctuary in Nairobi
• In 2011, a monument called “Bolt of Bolts” was erected in honor of the athlete, designed by German sculptor and musician Vit Diedel Klever.
• He dreamed of playing football, played at an amateur level and even played with Manchester United

Usain Bolt biography

The legendary track and field athlete was born in the town of Sherwood Content on August 21, 1986. The future record holder’s mother, Jennifer Bolt, was a housewife, and his father, Wellesley Bolt, owned a grocery store. Bolt has a younger brother, Sadiki, and an older half-sister from his first marriage.

As a child he showed no interest in athletics. The boy loved cricket, which he was ready to play for a long time near his home. However, instead of a ball, he used an orange. At first, he attended Valedencia Mamra Flash Junior School, where he showed a special talent in studying mathematics and English. Usain began to engage in athletics, but his favorite sport continued to be cricket.

In 1998, Bolt transferred to William Knibb Secondary School. Here he continued to play cricket, but during a competition, he was noticed by athletics coach Pablo McNeil. He was amazed by the speed of the young athlete. It was McNeil who advised Usain to focus on athletics. Young Bolt followed the coach’s recommendation. It turned out to be the right decision. At the age of 12, Usain became second in the 200-meter race at the Jamaican Secondary School Championships, showing a result of 22.04.

Early professional career

He made his first appearance at an international tournament in 2001 at the CARIFTA Regional Games in Bridgetown. The junior competed in the 200m, clocking 21.81 sec, and the 400m, which he completed in 48.28 sec. He came in second at the competition.

Three months later, the young man went to the World Championships in Hungary as part of the Jamaican team. He reached the semi-finals in the 200m race, but ended up finishing only 5th. This prevented him from reaching the finals of the competition.

In 2002, the aspiring track and field athlete won the 200m and 400m races and the 4x400m relay among juniors under 17 at the 31st CARIFTA Games in Nassau. He went on to become a winner and prize winner in several more junior tournaments.

His real breakthrough came in Port of Spain, where he set a CARIFTA Championships record in the 200m (20.40 sec). A week later, Usain Bolt won the Pan American Junior Championships in the 200m.

In 2004, the athlete began working with coach Fitz Coleman. On April 11 of that year, at the CARIFTA competition in Devonshire, he ran 200 meters in 19.93 seconds, breaking Roy Martin’s record, which was set on May 11, 1985, becoming the first junior to run 200 meters in less than 20 seconds.

Usain Bolt’s injury struggle

In the summer, he suffered a hamstring injury and missed the World Junior Championships. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he felt pain in his thigh, and was unable to show his best result in the 200 meters and advance further. The aftereffects of the injury prevented Bolt from reaching his full potential this time.

In the 2005 season, Bolt changed his coach to a new specialist, Glen Mills, who trained Dwayne Chambers and Kim Collins. Mills began to look for the causes of Usain’s numerous injuries. An examination showed that the athlete had scoliosis, that is, a curvature of the spine, and one leg was shorter than the other by almost 1.3 centimeters.

Experts warned the athlete that he might have to give up sports completely. Bolt and his new coach turned to the famous sports orthopedic doctor Hans-Wilgemuhl Müller-Wohlfahrt, who prescribed Usain a course of individual therapy, which brought excellent results. Already in June, he became the Jamaican champion in the 200 meters with a result of 20.27, and on July 10, he won the Central American and Caribbean championship in the same distance, setting a competition record of 19.99.

At the World Championships in Helsinki, in the final race after 60 m, he again feels pain in his hamstring, slows down and comes in last. The injury forces him to miss the rest of the season. In 2006, he gets injured again during training, misses the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but in April he wins the 200 m in Fort-de-France, and on July 30 he becomes the winner of the Colden Spike. Then there were several more competitions in which he took first and third places.

2008 Beijing Olympics – World records and three gold medals

While Bolt had previously only run the 200m, at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York he ran the 100m and set a world record, covering the distance in 9.72 seconds, beating Asafa Powell’s record.

Before the Beijing Olympics, the athlete announced that he would compete in the 100 and 200 meters. He won the 100 meters and his first Olympic gold with a new world record of 9.69. He became the first Jamaican athlete to win the Olympics. Usain Bolt also won the 200 meters, again with a world record. He ran the distance 0.02 seconds faster than Michael Johnson.

With two gold medals to his credit, Usain Bolt, along with Nest Carter, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell, wins a third in the 4x100m relay, setting a new Olympic and world record time of 37.10 seconds.

The relay victory and record were later annulled when Nest Carter tested positive for the banned drug methylhexaneamine. All Jamaican athletes who ran the relay were stripped of their Olympic gold.

After the Olympics, he took part in several competitions, which he won without difficulty, literally becoming the king of the 100-meter dash.

World Championship and Diamond League

The main start of the 2009 season was the World Championships in Berlin. Usain Bolt, competing in the 100-meter race, once again broke his own record, finishing in 9.58, improving the result by 11 hundredths of a second. For this record, he received a bonus of 100,000 US dollars. In the 200-meter race, he not only came first, but also set another world record of 19.19 seconds. The athlete again received a cash reward for the record. In the relay race, he and his partners also won gold.

After the Berlin World Championships, Bolt won the World Class in Zurich and took part in several major tournaments, and with the beginning of 2010, he focused on performing in the Diamond League. He won one tournament after another. With the onset of 2011, he took part in the World Championships in Daegu. In the 100-meter race, he was disqualified for a false start. He won the 200-meter race and the 4×100-meter relay together with his compatriots, setting a new record.

The organisers of the World Class in Zurich offered him to compete in their competition with an additional bonus of 200,000 euros, but Usain Bolt declined in favour of participating in the Hanzekovic Memorial. According to the IAAF, Bolt was recognised as a world athlete.

London 2012 Olympics

In the qualifying championship in Jamaica, Usain Bolt suffered two defeats in the 100 and 200 meters. The first was Yohan Blake. Bolt was chosen as the flag bearer of the Jamaican team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The failures of the selection were behind him. In the 100-meter race, he became a four-time Olympic champion, setting a new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds. Bolt won the 200-meter race. Usain became the only athlete in the world who managed to win the 200-meter race two Olympics in a row.

 

Together with Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Nest Carter, he won the 4×100 relay again, setting another world record, breaking his own. After the finish, an episode of Bolt arguing with the judge, who did not want to give the athlete the baton, was shown. A few days later, it was presented to Usain as a gift.

Based on the results of 2012, for the fourth time in his career he was recognized as the best track and field athlete in the world according to the IAAF.

Period from 2013 to 2015

Competes in the Diamond League. Not all distances are easy. For the 2014 season, he sets himself the goal of breaking the world record in the 200-meter race, but a hamstring injury ruins these plans. Usain Bolt undergoes surgery on his left leg. Recovery takes 9 weeks.

The track and field athlete has repeatedly stated that he will end his career before 2016. Later, Usain Bolt stated that he will take part in both the upcoming Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championships in London.

Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and World Championships in London

At the 2016 Olympics, Usain Bolt won the 100m, becoming the first athlete to win this event three times at the Olympic Games. The athlete also won the 200m, again his third victory at the Olympics. The gold was taken in the 4x100m relay, making it a triple-triple.

Unfortunately, history in Beijing repeated itself. The banned substance methylhexaneamine was again found in Nest Carter’s doping sample. Usain Bolt and his relay partners were again denied Olympic gold medals.

The 2017 World Championships did not go well for the track and field athlete. On August 5, he came in third in the 100-meter dash, and on August 12, he was injured during the 4×100 relay. Two days later, Usain Bolt announced the end of his professional career.

At the Tokyo Olympics, as Usain Bolt predicted, no one broke his records. It became clear that no one would be able to surpass the Jamaican athlete for a long time. Most of the world records set by Usain Bolt have also not yet been broken.

Usain Bolt after retirement

The legendary track and field athlete has repeatedly spoken about his desire to become a professional footballer after finishing his professional career. Many perceived such statements solely as a PR move, but he trained with many professional clubs.

Usain Bolt even competed for the Australian club Central Coast Mariners at an amateur level. There were media reports that some professional teams even wanted to sign a contract with the athlete. The Maltese club Valletta offered him a two-year contract, but Bolt did not agree, and on November 2, 2018, he left the Australian club.

In September 2021, the eight-time Olympic champion released the music album “Country Yutes”, which included fourteen tracks in the style of Jamaican reggae. The aspiring artist was taken under the wing of the A-Team Lifestyle label.

Usain Bolt has now completely retired from sports, but often appears in the media. He lives in his native Jamaica.

Usain Bolt’s personal life

The track and field athlete has never been married and is known as a ladies’ man. At various times, he dated economist Mizikan Evans, TV presenter Tanesh Simpson, model Rebecca Paisley, athlete Megan Edwards, Jamaican model April Jackson, and fashion designer Lubica Slovak.

Currently, as is known from the latest information, he has been living in a civil marriage with Casey Bennett since 2014. It is known that the couple got engaged in 2016. Nothing is known about the official marriage.

In May 2020, the couple welcomed their first child, a girl named Olympia Lightning Bolt. In June 2021, Bolt and Bennett welcomed twin sons named Sander and Saint Leo.