Jamaica's Usain Bolt is an Olympic legend who has been called "the fastest man alive" for smashing world records and winning multiple gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Games.
1986–present
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, quotes from usain bolt, who is usain bolt.
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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Usain Bolt as the Best Performing Sprinter Research Paper
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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Achievements of the World-Known Athlete Usain Bolt
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