usain bolt biography facts

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, 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 Biography

Birthday: August 21 , 1986 ( Leo )

Born In: Sherwood Content, Jamaica

Usain Bolt is undoubtedly the greatest sprinter in the history of mankind. A living legend, he has won nine gold medals in track and field events in the Olympics; a feat which no other person had achieved before. He has achieved the ‘triple-triple’ and is the first man to win gold medals at three consecutive ‘Olympic Games’ in 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events. He won these events at the 2008 ‘Beijing Olympics,’ 2012 ‘London Olympics,’ and 2016 ‘Rio Olympics.’ During his early days as a runner, he didn’t really believe in his abilities and was quite laid back with his approach towards sports. However, over the years, many coaches whom he teamed up with shaped him into a great runner. This talented athlete’s career suffered a setback when he was eliminated in the first round of the 200m event at the 2004 ‘Athens Olympics.’ But Bolt didn't give up and made a comeback with outstanding performances. He made his mark in the 2008 ‘Beijing Olympics’ where he won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m events. He repeated this feat at the 2012 ‘London Olympics’ and 2016 ‘Rio Olympics’ and cemented his place as the greatest sprinter in the history of modern Olympics.

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Girlfriend: Kasi Bennett

Also Known As: Usain St. Leo Bolt

Age: 37 Years , 37 Year Old Males

father: Wellesley Bolt

mother: Jennifer Bolt

siblings: Sadiki Bolt, Sherine Bolt

Born Country: Jamaica

Athletes Jamaican Men

Height: 6'5" (196 cm ), 6'5" Males

Humanitarian Work: Helped victims of the ‘Siachen’ earthquake

awards: Olympics Games - 9 Gold Medals

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Usain was born Usain St Leo Bolt on August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, Jamaica, to Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt. He is one of the three children born to the couple. His parents managed to make ends meet by running a shop where mostly groceries were sold.

The young boy was enrolled at an institution named ‘Waldensia Primary.’ He was known for being a good sprinter during his time here and even won many ‘10 meters’ running contests at this institution.

Bolt later moved to ‘William Knibb Memorial High School’ where he started playing sports, such as cricket. While mentoring the kids who were interested in the sport, the coach felt that Usain would be a better athlete than a cricketer. He even encouraged him to try sprinting.

The young lad soon participated in the 200-meter racing event in school, which he finished in a matter of just 22.04 seconds.

He was then coached by a former sprinter named Pablo McNeil who had previously participated in the Olympics.

Bolt’s first major international sporting event was the ‘IAAF World Youth Championship,’ which was held in 2001, at the Hungarian city of Debrecen. Although he failed to emerge victorious in the 200m qualifier event, he managed to finish the event in 21.73 seconds, which was his personal best at the time.

He then went on to participate in the 2002 ‘World Junior Championships.’ In this international event, held in Kingston, Jamaica, he managed to win the 200-meter event by completing the race in just 20.61 seconds.

He made waves in the world of sports by delivering an extraordinary performance at the 2003 ‘CARIFTA Games.’

During the ‘Jamaican High School Championships,’ which was also held in 2003, Bolt re-wrote the previous records of 200m and 400m running events by completing the events in 20.25 seconds and 45.35 seconds, respectively.

2004 turned out to be a major year in Usain’s career as he participated in three events, namely ‘CARIFTA Games,’ ‘World Junior Championships,’ and the famous ‘Athens Olympics.’

Although he was praised for his remarkable performance in the ‘CARIFTA Games,’ he failed to do well in the 200m Olympic qualifier event due to an injury that he had suffered.

Bolt teamed up with a new coach named Glen Mills in 2005. The latter tried his best to make Usain more professional than he was earlier. Under Glen’s mentorship, he registered a win in a 200m event where he finished the race in just 19.99 seconds.

In the same year, this upcoming sports star participated in the 2005 ‘World Championships.’ In the event, he fared much better than the way he did in the running events held in 2004.

This athlete was looking forward to the 2006 ‘Commonwealth Games,’ but had to back out of the event due to a severe injury to his hamstring.

Although his career suffered for the most part of 2006, he emerged victorious at the ‘IAAF World Athletics Final’ event, held in Germany that year.

He then traveled to the city of Osaka in Japan to participate in the 2007 ‘World Championship.’ Although he managed to cover a distance of 200m in 19.91 seconds, his performance was overshadowed by his contemporary Tyson Gay’s exceptional 19.76 seconds finish.

Though many felt that Usain lacked sufficient experience to participate in the ‘Beijing Summer Olympics,’ which was to be held in 2008, he silenced his critics by qualifying for the 100m final event. Bolt achieved path-breaking success when he won the 100m final by completing the race in just 9.69 seconds, becoming a world-renowned icon. He also won the 200m final with a new Olympic record of 19.30 seconds. He won his third gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in the 4x100m relay.

At the 2009 ‘Berlin World Championships,’ he created world records in both 100m and 200m events. He won the 100m race in 9.58 seconds and the 200m race in just 19.19 seconds. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay race, but his team failed to better its own record.

At the 2011 ‘World Championships’ held in Daegu, Bolt was eliminated from the 100m finals due to a false start. He came back strongly to win the gold medal in the 200m event, finishing the race in just 19.40 seconds. He then partnered with his Jamaican teammates to set a world record time of 37.04 seconds in the 4x100m relay.

He participated in the 2012 ‘Summer Olympics’ and created history by becoming the first man to successfully defend both the 100m and 200m Olympic sprint titles. He also won the 4x100m relay race and achieved the 'Double Triple,' taking his overall Olympic medal tally to six gold medals. He won the 100m race in 9.63 seconds and the 200m race in 19.32 seconds.

At the 2013 ‘World Championships’ in Moscow, he once again emerged victorious in the 100m and 200m events, winning the races in 9.77 seconds and 19.66 seconds, respectively. He also won the gold medal in the 4×100 meters relay final, becoming the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of world championships.

At the 2014 ‘Commonwealth Games,’ he did not participate in the 100m and 200m events as he had previously suffered a hamstring injury. He participated in the 4x100m relay and helped his team win gold.

At the 2015 ‘Beijing World Championships,’ he once again won the 4x100m relay, 100m, and 200m events in 37.36 seconds, 9.79 seconds, and 19.55 seconds, respectively. He also joined Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene by winning a record three 100m world titles, and recorded his fourth consecutive win in the 200m event at the ‘World Championships.’

At the 2016 ‘Rio Olympics,’ he once again won gold medals in the 4x100m relay, 100m, and 200m events and took his overall Olympic medal tally to nine gold medals. He won the 100m in 9.81 seconds, the 200m in 19.78 seconds, and the 4x100m relay in 37.27 seconds.

After the 2017 ‘World Championships,’ where he finished third in his last 100m race, Bolt retired from track and field.

He then began training with the Australian A-League club ‘Central Coast Mariners’ as a left-winger. He scored twice for the team in a friendly match but left the club the next month and chose not to pursue a career in football.

Usain Bolt has participated in four Olympics and has won nine gold medals.

At the 2004 ‘Athens Olympics,’ his performance was hampered by a leg injury and he was eliminated in the first round of the 200-meter event.

At the 2008 ‘Beijing Olympics,’ he won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, finishing the races in 9.69 seconds, 19.30 seconds, and 37.10 seconds, respectively.

At the 2012 ‘London Olympics,’ he once again won three gold medals. He won the 100m event in 9.63 seconds, the 200m in 19.32 seconds, and the 4x100m relay in 36.84 seconds.

At the 2016 ‘Rio Olympics,’ he won gold medals in all three track events and achieved the ‘triple-triple.’ He won the 100m event in 9.81 seconds, the 200m in 19.78 seconds, and the 4x100m relay in 37.27 seconds.

Bolt received his first honor in the form of a silver medal in 2001, during one of the championships held in school. He won another silver medal at the ‘CARIFTA Games’ which was held in the same year.

In the 2002 ‘World Junior Championships,’ he won the gold medal, becoming the youngest person to do so.

He received four medals in the ‘CARIFTA’ games held in 2003. This is considered to be an incredible feat.

His phenomenal performance in the 100m event at the 2008 ‘Summer Olympics’ helped him win his first gold medal.

He won another gold medal in the ‘World Championships’ event held in 2009.

His winning spree at the Olympics continued in 2012, as he won a gold medal yet again.

One of Bolt’s favorite childhood memories is the days he spent playing cricket and football with his brother Sadiki.

Bolt revealed his humanitarian side to the world when he contributed US$50,000 to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

He is a self-confessed football freak who supports the famous club ‘Manchester United.’ He is also an ardent supporter of Dutch football player Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

In May 2020, Usain started dating Kasi Bennett . The couple welcomed a daughter named Olympia Bolt. In 2021, their twin sons, Thunder, and Saint Leo were born.

See the events in life of Usain Bolt in Chronological Order

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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

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The incredible career of the world's fastest man Usain Bolt, who raked in £26 million last year

Usain Bolt is still the fastest man in history after setting a world record at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin with a sprint time of 9.58 seconds in the 100-metre event.

It's no surprise that the Jamaican-born athlete, now 30, excelled in sprinting from a young age.

At 15, Bolt was already 6-foot-5 inches tall. He also became the youngest World Junior Track and Field Championships gold medalist ever when he won the 200-metre event in 2002.

Fifteen years later, Bolt has added eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championship gold medals to his trophy cabinet, thanks to his acceleration and extraordinary stride length.

He is now the richest track and field athlete in the world and reportedly raked in $34.2 million (£26.2 million) this year, according to Forbes .

Bolt runs his last ever race at the 4x100 metre relay World Championship final in London on Saturday, having already bowed out from individual racing with a bronze in the 100-meter event last weekend.

He leaves behind a clear legacy, but what did Bolt go through to get to this point in his career?

Bolt was a winner from a young age. In 2002, aged 15, he became the youngest ever winner of the 200-metre race at the World Junior Championships in Athletics in Kingston, Jamaica.

Source: Getty

That same year, he won the rising star award at IAAF Athletics Gala in Monaco (but wore a questionably-fitted suit to the occasion.)

Source:   Getty

Just two years later, Bolt's first Olympic appearance came in Athens in 2004 despite injuries riddling his previous season. Unfortunately, this Olympic stint was unsuccessful and he didn't even make it past the first round.

He left Athens and took part in several other international competitions. Before he returned to the Olympic track he set a new world record in the 100-metre event at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, with a time of 9.72 seconds.

It was second time lucky for the athlete. Because in 2008's Beijing Olympics, his world record-breaking sprint in the 100-metre event secured him his first Olympic gold medal, with a time of 9.69 seconds. He famously managed to win the race with his laces undone.

Still in Beijing, Bolt went on to win another gold and set another world record in the 200-metre event with a time of 19.30 seconds. He also claims he ate 1,000 chicken nuggets during his time in the city.

Source:   Getty  / The Independent

Unbelievably, he went on to score a hat-trick, leaving Beijing with three gold medals in total. These were in the 100 metre, 200 metre, and 4x100 metre relay events.

However, the relay gold was taken from Bolt in 2017 as his team mate Nesta Carter was found guilty of doping after a urine sample was retested using the latest techniques.

Source: The Telegraph

Bolt shattered his own records the very next year at the IAAF Championships in Berlin, with a time of 9.58 seconds in the 100-metre race and 19.19 seconds in the 200-metre event.

It was his record-breaking time of 9.58 seconds that secured him the title of 'The Fastest Man Alive.' He won three gold medals in the same tournament.

Bolt gained legendary status, even if he was uneasy adopting the title himself, telling The New York Times in 2009: "I don’t think two seasons can do it... I think I have to keep doing this year after year."

Source: The New York Times

Aside from his success on the track his personality has led to a string of highly lucrative endorsement deals which have seen him become the highest-earning track star for the past few years.

Just a kid from Jamaica #OaksDay 🙌🏼🙌🏼 A post shared by Usain St.Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) on Nov 2, 2016 at 11:40pm PDT Nov 2, 2016 at 11:40pm PDT

Source: Forbes

After the Beijing Olympics Bolt picked up some big sponsorship deals including Hublot, Virgin Media, and Gatorade who even made him his own flavour "Gatorade Bolt."

Bolt's biggest deal with German brand Puma has been re-signed multiple times but the latest contract will see him with the brand through to 2025 and will bring him $10 million a year.

Source:   Forbes

In 2010, Bolt's winning streak was finally broken when American sprinter Tyson Gay beat him in the 100-metre final in the Diamond League in Stockholm.

But during the 2012 Games in London, he was back on form. He became the first athlete ever to retain the Olympic 100-metre and 200-metre Olympic titles. His Jamaican team also broke the record for the 4x100 metre relay with a time of 36.84 seconds.

Eight years after his first Olympic appearance, Bolt's winning ways continued at the Rio de Janiero Games in 2016. The Jamaican defended his 100-metre, 200-metre, and 4x100 metre relay titles, making him the first athlete ever to attain the "triple-triple" — three gold medals in the 100, 200, and 4x100-metre races at three consecutive Olympic Games.

Bolt ran his final individual race on August 5 at the World Championships 100-metre final in London. He finished 3rd, behind Christian Coleman and gold medalist Justin Gatlin.

Despite not winning his final race, Bolt will always be remembered as the greatest sprinter of his generation and still holds multiple records which don't look like they will be broken anytime soon.

Now it looks likely Bolt could become a movie star, with his sights set on Hollywood. "You never know. I might go into acting and do some action movies," Bolt said when discussing his options once he hangs up his running spikes.

Source: Business Insider

• Main content

Usain Bolt Biography

Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter in the history of mankind, has achieved unparalleled success in the world of track and field. With nine gold medals in Olympic events, including the remarkable ‘triple-triple’, Bolt’s dominance is unmatched. From his early days as a laid-back athlete to his transformation into a world-class runner, Bolt’s journey is one of determination and resilience. Despite facing setbacks, Bolt made a triumphant comeback and solidified his status as the greatest sprinter in modern Olympic history.

Quick Facts

• Girlfriend: Kasi Bennett
• Also Known As: Usain St. Leo Bolt
• Age: 37 Years, 37 Year Old Males
• Father: Wellesley Bolt
• Mother: Jennifer Bolt
• Siblings: Sadiki Bolt, Sherine Bolt
• Born Country: Jamaica
• Jamaican Men
• Height: 6’5″ (196 cm), 6’5″ Males
• Humanitarian Work: Helped victims of the ‘Siachen’ earthquake
• Awards: Olympics Games – 9 Gold Medals

Childhood & Early Life

Usain St Leo Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, Jamaica, to Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt. He grew up in a family of three children. His parents ran a shop selling groceries to make ends meet. Bolt attended Waldensia Primary, where he showed his talent as a sprinter by winning many 10-meter running contests.

Later, Bolt moved to William Knibb Memorial High School, where he initially played cricket. However, his coach recognized his potential as an athlete and encouraged him to try sprinting. Bolt participated in the 200-meter racing event at school and finished it in just 22.04 seconds.

Bolt’s career took off when he was coached by former sprinter Pablo McNeil. In 2001, he participated in the IAAF World Youth Championship and finished the 200m event in 21.73 seconds. He then won the 2002 World Junior Championships in Jamaica, completing the race in 20.61 seconds.

In 2003, Bolt made waves in the sports world with his performance at the CARIFTA Games. He also set new records in the 200m and 400m events at the Jamaican High School Championships.

2004 was a significant year for Bolt as he participated in the CARIFTA Games, World Junior Championships, and Athens Olympics. Although he faced an injury setback in the Olympic qualifier event, he continued to excel in sprinting.

Under the guidance of coach Glen Mills, Bolt achieved a remarkable win in a 200m event in 2005, finishing the race in 19.99 seconds. He also performed better in the 2005 World Championships compared to his previous year’s performance.

In 2006, Bolt had to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games due to a severe hamstring injury. However, he bounced back in 2007 at the World Championship, covering 200m in 19.91 seconds.

Despite doubts about his experience, Bolt qualified for the 100m final event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won the 100m final in 9.69 seconds and the 200m final with a new Olympic record of 19.30 seconds. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay.

Bolt continued to break records at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, winning gold in both the 100m and 200m events with world record times. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay.

In the following years, Bolt continued to dominate the track, winning multiple gold medals at the World Championships and Olympics. He achieved the “triple-triple” at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning gold in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events.

After the 2017 World Championships, Bolt retired from track and field. He briefly trained with the Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners but decided not to pursue a career in football.

Personal Life & Legacy

Bolt has fond memories of playing cricket and football with his brother Sadiki during his childhood. He has shown his humanitarian side by contributing to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Bolt is a fan of Manchester United and supports Dutch football player Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

In 2020, Bolt started dating Kasi Bennett, and they welcomed their daughter Olympia Bolt. In 2021, they welcomed twin sons named Thunder and Saint Leo.

Bolt has expressed interest in playing in the cricket tournament The Big Bash League but did not participate.

Awards and Achievements

Throughout his career, Bolt has received numerous honors and achievements. He won his first gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and continued to win gold medals at subsequent Olympics and World Championships. He holds world records in the 100m and 200m events.

Bolt expressed his interest in playing in the popular cricket tournament The Big Bash League but did not participate.

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The Speed Project

career Medal Tally

Career Highlights

Usain Bolt wins 2 silver medals at the World Championships in Osaka. He ran a time of 19.91 in the 200m and 37.89 in the 4x100m relay to claim his first-ever medals at the worlds.

Bolt wins double silver at the world championships

August 2007 – World Championships, Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Usain Bolt set the athletics world alight when he set 2 world records in the 100m (time of 9.69 seconds) and the 200m (in 19.30 seconds). Forever remembered by his famous celebration before he had even crossed the finish line. Bolt actually claimed 3 gold medals at the Games this year only to have his 4x100m relay gold taken away after teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of doping 8 years later.

Bolt Stuns the world with 2 world records!

August 2008 – Olympic Games, National Stadium, Beijing, China

The following year the lightning bolt strikes again, claiming a treble of golds and another 2 world records in the 100 metres (9.58 seconds) and 200 metres (19.19 seconds). He won his third gold of the competition with the Jamaican 4x100m relay team.

Raining gold in berlin

August 2009 – World Championships, Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany

Disaster struck for Bolt as he was disqualified from the 100m final for a false start. His teammate and countryman Yohan Blake went on to claim the gold medal. It wasn’t all doom and gloom as Bolt made no mistakes in the 200m, winning the gold in a time of 19.40 seconds and winning the gold with team Jamaica in 4x100m relay in a time of 37.04 seconds.

Heartbreak in daegu

September 2011 – World Championships, DS, Daegu, South Korea

Usain Bolt stole the show in London yet again with another golden treble at the Olympic Stadium. It was after these Games that he declared himself a legend, becoming the first man to complete the sprint double at two Olympics. Team Jamaica set a new world record in 4×100 metres relay (36.84 seconds) and Bolt finished with times of 9.63 seconds and 19.32 seconds in the 100m and 200m.

“I am now a living legend. Bask in my glory”

August 2012 – Olympic Games, Olympic Stadium, London, United Kingdom

Bolt continued his dominance at the World Championships with another 3 gold medals, making amends for his 100m false start disqualification in Daegu in 2011. He won gold in the 100m (9.77) the 200m (19.66) and the 4x100m (37.36).

No mistakes this time as bolt makes amends

August 2013 – World Championships, Luzhniki, Moscow, Russia

Another World Championships, another display of dominance in the sprints. Bolt adds 3 more gold medals to his already impressive catalogue. 100 Metres (9.79) 200 Metres (19.55) 4×100 Metres Relay (37.36).

Bolt returns to Beijing in style

August 2015 – World Championships, National Stadium, Beijing, China

Bolt had already claimed legendary status back in 2012 but if anyone doubted that he was the greatest sprinter of all time they’d have no argument after he completed a triple sprint double! 3 Olympic Games, 6 gold medals in the 100m (9.81) and 200m (19.78). Not forgetting another 4x100m gold (37.27). This feat put him amongst the top athletes of all-time in any sport.

The best there ever was. The best there ever will be

August 2016 – Olympic Games, Estádio Olímpico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bolts final appearance on the track before his retirement was painful for most to watch. Justin Gatlin forgot to read the script, taking home the gold medal, whilst Bolt finished in third place (9.95 seconds) after a slow start out of the blocks picking up his first-ever bronze in the championships. Heartache quickly followed as he literally crashed out of the 4x100m final, tumbling to the ground with a hamstring injury. Heroically Bolt refused aid, and dragged himself across the finish line one last time to a standing ovation from the crowd.

Bolt says goodbye

August 2017 – World Championships, Olympic Stadium, London, United Kingdom

Stats and Facts

• As of 2020, (according to CelebrityNetWorth) Usain Bolts net worth is estimated to be $90 million.
• Bolt has had sponsorship and advertising deals with Puma, Gatorade and Virgin media.
• In 2018 he co-founded “Bolt” an electric scooter company in his namesake.

Athletics/Track & field

• Bolt is the only man to ever win the sprint double, 100- and 200m at more than one Olympics. Bolt has done it at three.
• He was the first man ever to set 3 world records at an Olympics.
• Bolt holds the world record for the 100m in a time of 9.58 seconds.
• Bolt has competed in 4 Olympic Games, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
• Usain Bolt has a 40-yard dash time of 4.22 seconds. This time tied the record for the fastest NFL Combine 40-yard dash. If that isn’t impressive enough, he wasn’t even wearing spikes!
• In 2018 Bolt started training with Norwegian soccer side Strømsgodset.
• He wore the number 9.58 (his 100m WR time) for Strømsgodset in a friendly game.
• He wore the number again in the same year for Soccer Aid where he captained the Worlds team. He wasn’t’ able to make his dream of playing for Manchester United a reality but he was able to play at their ground as the event was held at Old Trafford.
• At the age of 32, he trained with and played friendly games for Australian side Central Coast Mariners.
• Bolt was offered two professional contracts, one from the Mariners and another from Maltese club Valletta FC. He ended up turning down both contracts and after only 8-weeks with the Mariners stating his “sports life is over.”

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50 Facts About Usain Bolt

• January 1, 2023 January 8, 2023

• Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica.
• His full name is Usain St. Leo Bolt.
• Bolt is a professional sprinter who is widely regarded as one of the greatest runners of all time.
• He holds the world record for the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, with times of 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds, respectively.
• Bolt has won eight Olympic gold medals, making him the most successful athlete in Olympic history.
• He has also won 11 World Championship gold medals.
• Bolt began running at the age of 12, and he made his international debut at the 2002 World Junior Championships.
• He made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games, where he won a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash.
• Bolt’s breakthrough performance came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won gold in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.
• Bolt is known for his lightning-fast speed and his signature “lightning bolt” pose, which he often strikes after winning a race.
• In addition to his success on the track, Bolt has also made appearances in films and television shows, and he has endorsed several major brands.
• Bolt is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 207 pounds.
• He has a wingspan of approximately 8 feet 2 inches.
• Bolt’s top speed has been clocked at 27.8 mph, making him the fastest human in history.
• His stride length is approximately 3.7 meters, which is significantly longer than the average stride length for a person his height.
• Bolt’s trainers have custom-made shoes for him that are designed to accommodate his long stride and help him maintain his speed.
• Bolt has a personal best time of 9.69 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
• He has run the 200-meter dash in under 20 seconds a total of 14 times.
• Bolt has won every Olympic and World Championship gold medal in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash events since 2008.
• Bolt’s nickname is “Lightning Bolt,” and he has also been referred to as “The World’s Fastest Man.”
• Bolt’s parents are Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt.
• He has two older siblings: a sister named Sherine and a brother named Sadiki.
• Bolt’s father was a cricket player and his mother was a schoolteacher.
• Bolt attended Waldensia Primary School and William Knibb Memorial High School in Jamaica.
• He played cricket and soccer as a child, but he ultimately decided to focus on track and field.
• Bolt has a number of hobbies, including playing video games and watching movies.
• He is also a fan of reggae music and has been known to play the drums in his spare time.
• Bolt has a number of tattoos, including a panther on his right shoulder and a lightning bolt on his left shoulder.
• He has a net worth of approximately $90 million.
• Bolt has a restaurant in Kingston, Jamaica called Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records.
• He also has a line of clothing called Bolt Athletics.
• Bolt has a number of philanthropic endeavors, including a foundation that focuses on helping children in Jamaica.
• He has received numerous accolades for his athletic achievements, including the Order of Jamaica and the Order
• In 2012, Bolt became the first athlete to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash at consecutive Olympics.
• He repeated this feat at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first athlete to win three consecutive gold medals in both events.
• Bolt is known for his excellent starts, and he often builds up a large lead in the first few meters of a race.
• He has a personal best time of 19.19 seconds in the 200-meter dash, which is the current world record.
• Bolt has won a total of 21 Olympic and World Championship medals, making him one of the most decorated track and field athletes of all time.
• He has won numerous awards and accolades, including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award and the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.
• Bolt has a number of sponsorships and endorsement deals, including contracts with Puma, Gatorade, and Visa.
• He has appeared in several commercials, including a viral ad for Virgin Media in which he races against a cheetah.
• Bolt has a number of charitable endeavors, including the Usain Bolt Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of children in Jamaica.
• He has also donated to several other charities, including the Children’s Heart Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
• Bolt is known for his laid-back and friendly personality, and he is often seen smiling and joking with his fellow competitors.
• He has a close relationship with his coach, Glen Mills, who has been working with Bolt since he was a teenager.
• Bolt has a number of hobbies outside of track and field, including playing video games and watching movies.
• Bolt announced his retirement from track and field in 2017, but he continues to make public appearances and participate in charity events.

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50 Facts About Usain Bolt

Written by Krystal Feaster

Published: 04 Aug 2024

• Athlete Facts

Usain Bolt , the name synonymous with speed, has left an indelible mark on the world of athletics. Ever wondered what makes him tick? Born on August 21, 1986 , in Jamaica, Bolt's journey from a small-town boy to the fastest man alive is nothing short of extraordinary. With a towering height of 6 feet 5 inches , he defied the odds, proving that sprinters don't have to be short and stocky. Did you know he holds the world record for the 100 meters at 9.58 seconds ? Beyond the track, Bolt's charisma and love for music and dance have made him a global icon . Ready to learn more about this sprinting legend? Buckle up for 50 fascinating facts about Usain Bolt !

Early Life and Background

Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive, has a fascinating backstory. Let's dive into some intriguing facts about his early years.

Born in Jamaica : Usain St. Leo Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, a small town in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica.

Nickname : As a child, Bolt was nicknamed "Lightning Bolt" due to his incredible speed, even before he became a professional athlete.

Family : Bolt grew up with his parents, Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt, and his two siblings, Sadiki and Sherine.

First Love : Cricket was Bolt's first love. He admired legendary cricketers like Waqar Younis and Sachin Tendulkar.

Schooling : He attended Waldensia Primary and later William Knibb Memorial High School, where he first showed his sprinting prowess.

Athletic Beginnings

Bolt's journey to becoming a world-renowned sprinter started early. Here are some key moments from his initial foray into athletics.

First Coach : Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprinter, was Bolt's first coach and recognized his potential early on.

First Medal : At the age of 14, Bolt won his first high school championship medal in the 200 meters.

Junior Championships : In 2002, Bolt won the 200 meters at the World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, making him the youngest world junior gold medalist ever.

Record Breaker : At 15, Bolt broke the 200 meters world junior record with a time of 20.13 seconds.

Scholarship : His athletic talent earned him a scholarship to the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Rise to Stardom

Bolt's rise to international fame was meteoric. Here are some pivotal moments that catapulted him to stardom.

2004 Olympics : Bolt's first Olympic appearance was in Athens, but he was eliminated in the first round due to a leg injury.

First World Record : In 2008, Bolt set his first world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York.

Beijing Olympics : Bolt won three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, setting world records in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay.

Signature Pose : Bolt's "To Di World" pose, also known as the "Lightning Bolt," became iconic during the Beijing Olympics.

Berlin World Championships : In 2009, Bolt broke his own 100 meters world record with a time of 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin.

Dominance in Athletics

Bolt's dominance in track and field is unparalleled. Here are some facts that highlight his supremacy.

Olympic Golds : Bolt has won a total of eight Olympic gold medals, making him one of the most decorated sprinters in history.

World Championships : He has 11 World Championship gold medals, the most by any sprinter.

Double-Double : Bolt is the first athlete to win the 100 meters and 200 meters at consecutive Olympics (2008 and 2012).

Triple-Triple : He achieved the "triple-triple" by winning gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016).

Fastest Man Alive : Bolt's 100 meters world record of 9.58 seconds still stands, making him the fastest man in history.

Personal Life and Interests

Beyond the track, Bolt has a rich personal life and diverse interests. Here are some lesser-known facts about him.

Music Lover : Bolt is a huge fan of reggae and dancehall music. He even tried his hand at DJing.

Football Fan : A passionate football fan, Bolt supports Manchester United and has expressed interest in playing professional football.

Business Ventures : Bolt has launched several business ventures, including his own restaurant chain, Tracks & Records.

Philanthropy : He established the Usain Bolt Foundation, which focuses on education and cultural opportunities for children in Jamaica.

Acting : Bolt made a cameo appearance in the 2016 film "The Secret Life of Pets."

Retirement and Legacy

Even after retiring, Bolt's legacy continues to inspire. Here are some facts about his life post-retirement.

Retirement : Bolt retired from professional athletics in 2017 after the World Championships in London.

Football Debut : In 2018, Bolt made his professional football debut for Australian club Central Coast Mariners.

Record Holder : Despite retiring, Bolt still holds the world records for the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay.

Autobiography : Bolt released his autobiography, "Faster Than Lightning: My Story," in 2013.

Global Icon : Bolt's influence extends beyond sports; he is a global icon and a symbol of excellence and perseverance.

Fun and Quirky Facts

Bolt's life is full of fun and quirky moments. Here are some light-hearted facts about him.

Video Games : Bolt loves playing video games, especially Call of Duty and FIFA.

Favorite Food : His favorite food is Jamaican dumplings and yams.

Height : Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, Bolt is unusually tall for a sprinter.

Speed : Bolt's top speed during his 100 meters world record run was 27.8 mph.

Nickname Origin : His nickname "Lightning Bolt" became even more fitting as his career progressed.

Awards and Honors

Bolt's achievements have earned him numerous awards and honors. Here are some notable ones.

IAAF World Athlete of the Year : Bolt won this prestigious award six times.

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year : He received this award four times, recognizing his outstanding achievements.

Order of Jamaica : In 2009, Bolt was awarded the Order of Jamaica for his contributions to sports.

UNESCO Champion for Sport : Bolt was named a UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2009.

Time 100 : Bolt was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

Records and Achievements

Bolt's records and achievements are a testament to his extraordinary talent. Here are some highlights.

200 Meters Record : Bolt holds the world record for the 200 meters with a time of 19.19 seconds.

4×100 Meters Relay : Bolt's Jamaican team set the world record for the 4×100 meters relay with a time of 36.84 seconds.

Diamond League : Bolt has won multiple Diamond League titles in both the 100 meters and 200 meters.

Olympic Records : Bolt holds the Olympic records for the 100 meters (9.63 seconds) and 200 meters (19.30 seconds).

Commonwealth Games : Bolt won gold in the 4×100 meters relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Inspirational Quotes

Bolt's words have inspired many. Here are some of his most memorable quotes.

"I am Bolt" : "I am Bolt" is not just a statement; it's a declaration of his confidence and identity.

"Anything is possible" : Bolt often says, "Anything is possible. I don't think limits."

"Train hard" : He believes in hard work, saying, "Train hard, turn up, run your best, and the rest will take care of itself."

"Dream big" : Bolt encourages everyone to dream big, stating, "Dream big to achieve big."

"Enjoy the journey" : Bolt emphasizes enjoying the process, saying, "The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination."

Usain Bolt's Legacy

Usain Bolt's impact on athletics is undeniable. Known as the fastest man alive, Bolt's record-breaking sprints have inspired countless athletes worldwide. His charismatic personality and sportsmanship have made him a beloved figure beyond the track. Bolt's achievements, including eight Olympic gold medals and numerous world records, set a high bar in the world of sports.

Beyond his athletic prowess, Bolt's dedication to philanthropy and his home country, Jamaica, showcases his commitment to giving back. His legacy is not just about speed but also about inspiring others to pursue their dreams with passion and determination.

As we reflect on Bolt's incredible journey, it's clear his influence will be felt for generations. Whether you're a sports enthusiast or simply admire greatness, Usain Bolt's story is a testament to what can be achieved with talent, hard work, and a bit of flair.

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Usain Bolt summary

Usain Bolt , (born Aug. 21, 1986, Trelawny parish, Jam.), Jamaican sprinter. An athletics (track and field) prodigy, Bolt won the 200-meter event at the 2002 world junior championships at age 15. In May 2008 he set the 100-meter-dash world record, which he broke the following August while capturing a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games . Bolt won additional Olympic gold medals in the 200 meters and the 4 × 100-meter relay, both in world record time. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, he again won the 100-meter and 200-meter events, becoming the first person to win both races in consecutive Olympiads. He also won a gold as a member of the 4 × 100-meter relay at the London Games. Four years later, he won golds in all three of those events, at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, becoming the first man in history to complete the “triple triple.” He retired from competition after the 2017 world championships.

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(born 1986). Nicknamed “Lightning Bolt,” Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt electrified track and field fans around the world by winning gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter races in an unprecedented three consecutive Olympic Games . He is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.

Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, in Trelawny parish, Jamaica. A track prodigy, he won the 200-meter event at the 2002 world junior championships at the age of 15. He also competed in the 200-meter event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, but was hampered by a hamstring injury and failed to advance beyond the first round of heats.

Though he stood 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 meters), Bolt defied conventional wisdom that very tall sprinters are disadvantaged as fast starters. In 2007 he earned a silver medal in the 200-meter event at the world championships. After persuading his coach to let him try the 100 meters, he ran 10.03 seconds in his first professional race at the distance. In May 2008 he broke the world record in the 100 meters, running 9.72 seconds.

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, 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 establish world records (9.69 seconds, 19.30 seconds, and 37.10 seconds, 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 in 2017.) He also won gold medals in all three events at the 2009 world championships while setting new world marks in the 100 meters (9.58 seconds) and 200 meters (19.19 seconds).

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. He recovered to capture golds in the 200 meters and the 4 × 100-meter relay, helping to set a new world record (37.04 seconds) in the latter event.

Although Bolt lost both the 100- and 200-meter races to training partner Yohan Blake at the 2012 Jamaican Olympic Trials, he was back in top form weeks later at the London Olympics, where he set an Olympic record in the 100 meters (9.63 seconds) and claimed another decisive victory in the 200-meter event. Bolt was the first person to win both races in consecutive Olympiads. He also powered the Jamaican team to a new world record in the 4 × 100-meter relay (36.84 seconds).

At both the 2013 and 2015 world championships, Bolt again won gold medals in his three signature events (100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay). He cemented his role as the best sprinter in history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 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. At the 2017 world championships, Bolt 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. He retired from athletics after the championships.

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Before they were superstars: Usain Bolt

(2008 Getty Images)

Ever wondered what your favourite sportspeople were like before they were super-mega-famous? Every week Tokyo 2020 will give you a glimpse into what life was like for some of the world’s greatest athletes before they were stars.

• Name: Usain “Lightning” Bolt
• Nationality: Jamaican
• Profession: Sprinter

What has he achieved?

What hasn’t he achieved? Usain Bolt has won eight (yes, eight!) Olympic gold medals, including 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also holds the current world records in the 100m (9.58 seconds), 200m (19.19 seconds) and 4 x 100m (36.84 seconds). As a youngster, Bolt showed his immense promise by setting world under-20 and world under-18 records in the 200m. Not a bad haul in the end!

(2009 Getty Images)

Surprising fact

The secret to Usain Bolt’s speed may come from an unlikely source. According to rumour, the honey produced in Sherwood Content - the area that Bolt grew up - packs people full of energy. (Disclaimer: The secret may also be the thousands of hours of training Bolt put in over many, many years of competition).

What’s he up to now?

Following his retirement from the sport in 2017, Usain Bolt chased a childhood dream of becoming a footballer, turning out as a left-winger for Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners. He even spent time training with German Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund. More recently, he’s been seen back in Jamaica working on a number of business ventures.

Usain Bolt - A unique and very special talent

• Published 6 August 2012
• comments Comments

You can doubt other athletes all you want. They will fail, if only occasionally. They will bend to the laws of physics and physiology.

The same rules do not apply to Usain Bolt.

In retaining his Olympic 100m title in 9.63 seconds despite being, by his own admission, only 95% fit and after a season in which he has been beaten, injured and questioned like never before, the 25-year-old Jamaican reminded the watching world of something we were in danger of forgetting: he is not like the rest of us.

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Bolt beats Blake to win 100m gold

Bolt does not just make the impossible real; he can make it almost mundane.

His time of 9.69 seconds in the 2008 Olympic final once blew minds and reset parameters seemingly forever. Now that time is relegated to the footnotes, a metre down on his London calling card and more than 0.1 secs off his wondrous world best.

Sunday night's unequivocal excellence, however, was not about the numbers. Bolt came to these Olympics with a simple, singular aim: to confirm his status, once and for all, as a legend of the sport.

You might reasonably think he had already done enough. Bolt, a student of sprinting and its history, did not.

To him, his Beijing sprint double was a task only half completed. Only by retaining both titles, something no other man in history has ever done, would he be satisfied.

Even as the afternoon hours ticked away, there were still grave misgivings about his chances. Yohan Blake had beaten him - twice - at the Jamaican trials just a few weeks ago.

Bolt had not run since. Instead he had sought treatment from sports doctor Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt, his back and hamstrings said to be as unreliable as his summer form.

When Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic champion, won the night's first semi-final in 9.82 secs, the quickest ever showing at that stage of a competition, the doubts swelled further. With fellow American Tyson Gay, the second fastest man in history, also going to his blocks, this was the highest quality field ever assembled in a major global final.

Oh ye of little faith.

Bolt not only got out fast - quicker than either Blake or Gatlin - but he left his rivals behind as if sucked away by a jet-engine's thrust.

Blake's 9.75 secs for silver was nowhere. Neither was Gatlin's 9.79 secs for bronze. Both were personal bests, yet in a narrative written by Bolt's brilliance, these things are reduced to afterthoughts.

London, stunned and screaming, had witnessed the quickest 100m final ever.

Seven men went under 10 seconds, beating the previous record of six, achieved at both the 1991 World Championships and 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The times for the athletes finishing from third to seventh were the fastest ever registered for those positions.

Had Asafa Powell not popped his groin and limped over the line, all eight finalists would have gone under 10 seconds for the first time in history. Since Powell's nominal 11.99 seconds would have won the 100m final at the first Olympics in 1896, there was neatness regardless.

With Bolt away in a golden blur, none of it mattered anyway.

Bolt's joy after retaining 100m title

You could lose yourself in arguments about how Sunday's time compared to his Berlin best - a tailwind of 1.5 m/s here to 2009's 0.9 m/s, the comparatively fresh 17 Celsius of London less conducive to record-breaking than Germany's mid-summer warmth.

To do so would be to neglect the impact this man has on the wider world.

There is good reason one million people applied for tickets for Sunday night's session at the Olympic Stadium. This is not just the biggest single contest in the planet's biggest sporting occasion, but one of a finite number of opportunities to witness the greatest sprinter that has ever lived do what no athlete has ever done before.

Every Olympic 100m champion in the last 32 years was there to watch - Maurice Greene, Donovan Bailey, Linford Christie, Carl Lewis and Alan Wells.

Since Bolt is more than just athletics, it did not stop at sprinters. At one point, I looked around to see Lennox Lewis, John McEnroe and Kobe Bryant all within hailing distance.

Bolt worked for this win. The strength of the field meant he could not celebrate from 15 metres out as he had four years ago.

It merely made for a superior script. Only in Gatlin's bronze, after two long doping bans and a reputation at rock-bottom within the sport, could there be displeasure.

Bolt clowns around after winning his gold

That Gay, universally liked by his peers and undervalued by the public at large, should miss out on his first Olympic medal by 0.01 secs to a man like Gatlin and leave the track in tears was a sad sub-plot.

Gay has run two of the five fastest 100m races of all time - 9.69 secs in Shanghai three years ago and 9.71 secs in Berlin the same summer. Because he has done so in the era and races of Bolt, only the aficionados will pay sufficient dues.

Bolt, as ever, was in the mood for partying - cavorting, clowning, delighting the capacity crowd with his full range of showman celebrations.

"People can talk," he shrugged afterwards, in a brief moment of sober reflection. "All they can do is talk. I brought it. I know what I need to do."

That may well have been Bolt's last ever Olympic 100m. Few sprinters maintain a physical peak across eight years or a mental desire to stay at the top once they have conquered every challenge confronting them.

By the time the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro come around, Bolt will be approaching his 30th birthday. If track still holds his focus, it is more likely to be over one lap than the single straight, the goal an unprecedented domination of three distances should the pain of 400m running not turn his sated stomach.

In case any of us were feeling a little wistful for that reason, or that a contest so eagerly anticipated for so long is over in such a beautiful blink of the eye, Bolt gave us a little reminder before he left the stadium that something even more stunning may be just round the curve.

"I really want to do something special in my 200m," he said, teasingly, to reporters waiting to interview after his 100m triumph.

His own world record of 19.19 seconds? Incredibly, impossibly, the 19-second barrier itself?

"It's been on my mind for years and years," he said, with as straight a face as he ever could.

"This season, on this track, feeling confident... we'll see."

More on this story

Jamaicans revel in Bolt victory

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Usain Bolt Biography

• 100m world record - 9.58 seconds
• 200m world record - 19.19 seconds
• 4x100m relay world record - 36.84 seconds
• Eight Olympic Gold Medals
• Eleven World Championship Gold Medals
• One World Junior Championship Gold Medal
• As a child, Usain Bolt showed an interest in playing cricket and football (in America "soccer"). He has also shown an interest in playing both sports professionally today.
• Usain Bolt's first world record breaking performance in the 100m was preceded by a very strong lighting storm.
• Usain Bolt has broken both the 100m world record and the 4x100m world record three times and has broken the 200m world record twice.
• Usain Bolt has appeared as a special guest on two Saturday Night Live skits.
• Usain Bolt has written three autobiographies.
• Usain Bolt partnered with a mobile gaming company to make his own themed mobile game simply called Bolt! in which players control him and fight pirates.
• At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, during the final seconds of the 100m event, Usain Bolt slowed down considerably to start celebrating his inevitable gold medal finish, unaware that he was on pace for approximately a 9.55 second 100m time. One of his shoes was also untied.

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Awards & Achievements

• Three gold medals , each in 100m , 200m sprint and 4x100m relay race at the World Championships that took place in Berlin in 2009
• Bagged a gold medal by finishing first in 200m race at the World Youth Championship , convened in Sherbrooke in 2003
• Honoured as the " Commander of the Order of Distinction " in 2008
• The youngest person to be appointed as the “ Member of Order of Jamaica " at the age of 23 in 2009
• Twice named as the " Track & Field Athlete of the Year ": in 2008 and 2009
• Gold medals in 100m  and  200m sprint at the Beijing Olympics , London Olympics and Rio Olympics , held in 2008, 2012 and 2016, respectively
• Honoured as the " Jamaica Sportsman of the Year " five times: in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013
• Two gold medals each in 200m sprint and 4x100m relay race at the World Championships , convened in Daegu in 2011
• Three gold medals each in 100m , 200m sprint and 4x100m relay race at the World Championships , held in Moscow in 2013
• Three gold medals each in 100m , 200m sprint and 4x100m relay race at the World Championships held in Beijing in 2015
• Entitled as the " IAAF World Athlete of the Year " six times: in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016
• Thrice honoured as " Laureus World Sportsman of the Year" :   in 2009, 2010, and 2013

For me, I'm focused on what I want to do. I know what I need to do to be a champion, so I'm working on it.

Eight medals in three Olympic Games , eleven World Championship  titles, World Junior Champion  title in 200m sprint and a lot more; this Jamaican sprinter has proved that it is the sheer determination that works above all. At present, Usain Bolt is regarded as the fastest man alive on earth. With his supersonic speed, Usain has earned what he dreamed of as a young lad and today is followed by many to achieve great heights.

Usain St Leo Bolt was born in a small town in Trelawney , Jamaica ; in a middle-class family of a grocery store owner on 21st August 1986 . The ordinary child with exceptional speed used to play football and cricket along with his siblings and was much ignorant about his calibre to run faster than others. A former Olympian, Pablo McNeil noticed his potential and coached him for better performance.

In 2001 , when Bolt was only 15, had a successful face-off with the track at the CARIFTA Games where he set records in 200m and 400m events, clocking 21.12 s and 47.33 s , respectively. He made his Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens but met a fatal hamstring injury and failed to make his presence count, although he reached the top 5 world ranking. Bolt took it in a positive manner and went on to train himself harder to achieve his dreams.

After four years, he returned to the track at the Beijing Olympics and bagged gold medals, finishing first in 100m and  200m races. He was marked as the only athlete to earn gold medals in two sprint races of an Olympic event. With a bodacious attitude and firm belief to win, Bolt clinched a total of 8 gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games and eleven World Championships within a span of seven years in between 2008-2015 , in spite of the physical injuries that often tend to oppose his participation. Being a man of strong will, Bolt always contradicts the prediction of his critics and leaves notable performances. Setting a world record of 9.58s in 100m sprint and 19.19s in 200m race, Bolt has registered his name in the history.

Photo Credits: wikimedia.org

Usain has earned the title of " Lightning Bolt " for his swift pace. The man with alacrity has given equal credit to his sport for what he earned through his go-getting performances on track, raising the sport to all new heights. His successful sports career better depicts his qualities, portraying an idealistic approach to chase victory just as he chases with his unbeatable pace.

I know what I can do so it doesn't bother me what other people think or their opinion on the situation.

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Usain Bolt Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He became a world record holder in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay and is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He shot to global acclaim with his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory. Often referred to as “Lightning Bolt”, he has received many accolades including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year (three times), and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times).

Usain St. Leo Bolt

Lightning Bolt, V.J.

Sherwood Content, Trelawny, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica

Nationality

Usain Bolt went to  Waldensia Primary . He then studied at  William Knibb Memorial High School .

• Father –  Wellesley Bolt
• Mother –  Jennifer Bolt
• Siblings –  Sadiki (Brother), Sherine (Sister)

His parents used to run a local grocery store in a rural area.

Usain Bolt has been signed with PACE Sports Mgmt, Sports Management Company, England, United Kingdom.

According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, his net worth was $90 Million in 2020.

6 ft 4¾ in or 195 cm

94 kg or 207 pounds

Girlfriend / Spouse

Usain Bolt has dated –

• Mizicann Evans (2004-2011) – He first met Mizicann Evans (aka Mitzy) when she was 14 and Usain was 16 during a track meet. But, they didn’t start dating at that time. In 2003, Usain relocated to Kingston, Jamaica to Mitzy’s hometown and they soon started dating in 2004. Mitzy and Usain remained an item for 7 long years until 2011.
• Taneish Simpson (2010) – In 2010, he was briefly romantically linked with Jamaican TV personality, Taneish Simpson.
• Rebeckah Passley (2011) – In 2011, Usain was then RUMORed to have had a fling with a British girl, Rebeckah Passley.
• Lubica Kucerova (2011-2012) – From November 2011 to May 2012, Bolt and Slovakian fashion designer, Lubica Kucerova were an item.
• Megan Edwards (2012) – Usain met British model, Megan Edwards during London Olympics Game 2012 and was RUMORed to have had an encounter in July 2012.
• April Jackson (2013) – In 2013, Bolt dated Miss Jamaica Universe 2008, April Jackson for 4 months. They had also met for the first time in London Olympics 2012.
• Nailah Dillard (2013) – It is RUMORed that he had an encounter with Nailah Dillard in the year 2013.
• Kasi Bennett (2014-Present) – Usain started dating Kasi Bennett in 2014. They have a daughter together named Olympia Lightning Bolt (b. May 17, 2020) and twin sons named Saint Leo Bolt and Thunder Bolt (b. June 2021).
• Jady Duarte (2016) – He had an affair with Brazilian personality Jady Duarte in August 2016.
• Holly Young (2017) – In April 2017, he hooked up with Holly Young.

Race / Ethnicity

Usain Bolt is of African-Jamaican descent.

Sexual Orientation

Distinctive features.

• Towering height

13 (US) (via The Guardian)

Brand Endorsements

Usain has appeared in TV commercials for SportsCenter (2012), etc.

In 2012, Bolt was also seen in print ads and commercials for Soul Electronics SL 300 series headphones.

In 2002, he signed an endorsement deal with Puma. He endorsed Optus (an Australian Telecommunication Company) in 2016. Bolt has also endorsed watchmaker Hublot  and Digicel .

Usain has been sponsored by Gatorade (an energy drink).

Christianity

Best Known For

Being the fastest-running man ever

He was seen in certain TV movies and documentaries such as Usain Bolt Documentary (2016),  Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive (2012), etc.

First TV Show

In 2005, Bolt appeared in a single episode of the television series Infinite Challenge  as himself.

Personal Trainer

He takes care of his diet a lot. Like most of us, he also gets hunger pangs and urges to eat junk food. But, the difference is that we eat it and he doesn’t.

He switches the junk food with vegetables. He doesn’t know much about cooking apart from scrambled eggs. So, he has to depend on healthy foods from restaurants out there.

Bolt’s typical diet looks something like this –

• Breakfast – Ackee and saltfish (traditional Jamaican dish) with dumplings, yellow yam, potato, cooked banana
• Lunch – Pasta and chicken breast
• Dinner – Rice and peas with pork

It’s a little difficult to achieve a fitness level similar to Bolt if you are not already athletic. Check out this sample workout routine from Details.com  and Men’s Health .

You can see him training on YouTube under the guidance of his coach.

Usain Bolt’s Favorite Things

• Food – McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets
• Meal – None. He eats everything
• Tennis Player  – Serena Williams
• Pastime – Dancing

Source – Facebook , IMDb , Daily Mail UK

Usain Bolt’s Facts

• Usain used to actively play football and cricket in his childhood. He didn’t think of anything other than sports.
• Usain became his school’s fastest runner in 100 meters race by the age he turned 12.
• Usain’s first love was cricket (though, he likes basketball more than cricket now) not running.
• He enjoys watching lawn tennis when Serena Williams plays.
• Before becoming a professional athlete, he used to party 3 times a month, which got reduced to 5 times a year. His partying was focused more on dancing and not on drinking alcohol.
• In 2010, Usain Bolt’s autobiography “ My Story: 9.58: Being the World’s Fastest Man ” was released.
• Since 1977, after the fully automatic time measurements became compulsory, Bolt became the first man to make a 100 m and 200 m world record in athletics.
• He made the world record in 100 m and 200 m sprints in 2009. Bolt completed the 100 m sprint in 9.58 seconds and the 200 m race in 19.19 seconds as per IAAF .
• Bolt has a strong liking for practical jokes.
• When he stayed in Beijing during the Olympics in 2008, he ate 1000 McDonald’s chicken nuggets because he found Chinese food odd. By calculation, it comes out to be 5000 calories and 300 grams of fat per day.
• He is a late owl who plays video games and watches movies at night.
• He is very lazy and has a great liking for junk food. Due to this, some of his friends and coaches believe that he would become fatty after retirement from athletics.
• Bolt supports Manchester United and even wanted to play for them after retiring. But, he changed his mind later.
• Herb McKenley and Don Quarrie are his Jamaican athletic idols.
• He is very much fond of music and played a reggae DJ in front of the Paris crowd in 2010.
• If he weren’t a sprinter, he would definitely be a fast bowler (in cricket) instead.
• In January 2023, it was revealed that Bolt’s $12.7 million was missing from his 10-year-old investment account with Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) which allegedly happened due to fraud done by a former employee of SSL. Jamaica Financial Investigations Division and Financial Services Commission was looking into the matter.
• On January 31, 2023, Usain clarified that he was not financially broke with the loss of millions of dollars since that money was parked for his future use. But, he was really sad about that loss.
• Visit his official website @ usainbolt.com.

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Español NEW Usain Bolt facts for kids Quick facts for kids Usain Bolt CD Personal information Full name Usain St. Leo Bolt Nickname(s) Lightning Bolt Born (1986-08-21) 21 August 1986 (age 38) Sherwood Content, Jamaica Height 1.95 m Weight 94 kilograms (207 lb) Sport Sport Event(s) Club Racers Track Club Coached by Glen Mills Retired 2017 Achievements and titles Personal best(s) : 4.22 ( , 2019) : 9.58 (Berlin 2009) : 14.35 (Manchester 2009) : 19.19 (Berlin 2009) : 30.97 (Ostrava 2010) : 45.28 ( 2007) : 2:05 Event 1st 2nd 3rd 8 0 0 World Championships 11 2 1 World Relays 0 1 0 CAC Championships 1 0 0 1 0 0 World Junior Championships 1 2 0 World Youth Championships 1 0 0 Event 1st 2nd 3rd 6 0 1 200 m 10 1 0 4×100 m relay 7 3 0 4×400 m relay 0 1 0 Usain St. Leo Bolt OJ CD OLY ( / ˈ juː s eɪ n / ; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter , widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres , 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-time Olympic gold medallist, Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics , which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory. An eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011. He is the most successful male athlete of the World Championships. Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is one of the most successful in the 100 m with three titles, being the first person to run sub-9.7s and sub-9.6s. Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012. Bolt's most successful event is the 200 m, with three Olympic and four World titles. The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100 m; he had earlier won numerous 200 m medals (including 2007 World Championship silver) and held the world under-20 and world under-18 records for the event until being surpassed by Erriyon Knighton in 2021. His achievements as a sprinter have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt", and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year (three times), and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times). Bolt was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2016. Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships, when he finished third in his last solo 100 m race, opted out of the 200 m, and pulled up injured in the 4×100 m relay final. Early competitions Rise to prominence, 2004–2007 early career, world-record breaker, 2008 summer olympics, after the 2008 olympics, 2009 berlin world championships, 2010 diamond league and broken streak, 2011 world championships, 2012 summer olympics, 2013 world championships, 2014: injury and commonwealth games, 2015 beijing world championships, 2016 rio olympics, 2017 season, financial crisis, other sports, documentary film, sponsorships and advertising work, entrepreneurship, music producer, recognition, personal bests, guinness world records, average and top speeds, season's bests, world rankings, international competitions, national titles, circuit wins, early years. Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 to parents Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt in Sherwood Content, a small town in Jamaica. Jennifer named her son Usain at the suggestion of her nephew-in-law, who suggested the name as he had a classmate of that name, while Bolt's middle name, St Leo, was given to him by his aunt. He has a brother, Sadiki, and a sister, Sherine. His parents ran the local grocery store in the rural area, and Bolt spent his time playing cricket and football in the street with his brother, later saying, "When I was young, I didn't really think about anything other than sports." As a child, Bolt attended Waldensia Primary, where he began showing his sprint potential when he ran in his parish's annual national primary school meet. By the age of twelve, Bolt had become the school's fastest runner over the 100 metres distance. Bolt also developed an affection for European football teams Real Madrid and Manchester United . Upon his entry to William Knibb Memorial High School, Bolt continued to focus on other sports, but his cricket coach noticed Bolt's speed on the pitch and urged him to try track and field events. Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete, and Dwayne Jarrett coached Bolt, encouraging him to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities. The school had a history of success in athletics with past students, including sprinter Michael Green. Bolt won his first annual high school championships medal in 2001; he took the silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.04 seconds. McNeil soon became his primary coach, and the two enjoyed a positive partnership, although McNeil was occasionally frustrated by Bolt's lack of dedication to his training and his penchant for practical jokes. When Bolt was a boy, he attended Sherwood Content Seventh-day Adventist Church in Trelawny , Jamaica, with his mother. His mother did not serve pork to him in accordance with Adventist beliefs. Representing Jamaica in his first Caribbean regional event, Bolt clocked a personal best time of 48.28 s in the 400 metres in the 2001 CARIFTA Games, winning a silver medal. The 200 m also yielded a silver, as Bolt finished in 21.81 s. He made his first appearance on the world stage at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen , Hungary. Running in the 200 m event, he failed to qualify for the finals, but he still set a new personal best of 21.73 s. Bolt went to the CARIFTA Games, where he set championship records in the 200 m and 400 m with times of 21.12 s and 47.33 s, respectively. He continued to set records with 20.61 s and 47.12 s finishes at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships. Bolt is one of only nine athletes (along with Valerie Adams , Veronica Campbell-Brown , Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva , Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels, David Storl , and Kirani James) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event. Former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson recognised Bolt's talent and arranged for him to move to Kingston , along with Jermaine Gonzales, so he could train with the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) at the University of Technology, Jamaica. The 2002 World Junior Championships were held in front of a home crowd in Kingston, Jamaica, and Bolt was given a chance to prove his credentials on a world stage. By the age of 15, he had grown to 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 in) tall, and he physically stood out among his peers. He won the 200 m in a time of 20.61 s, which was 0.03 s slower than his personal best of 20.58 s, which he set in the 1st round. Bolt's 200 m win made him the youngest world-junior gold medallist ever. The expectation from the home crowd had made him so nervous that he had put his shoes on the wrong feet, although he realized the mistake before the race began. However, it turned out to be a revelatory experience for Bolt, as he vowed never again to let himself be affected by pre-race nerves. As a member of the Jamaican sprint relay team, he also took two silver medals and set national junior records in the 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres relay, running times of 39.15 s and 3:04.06 minutes respectively. The rush of medals continued as he won four golds at the 2003 CARIFTA Games and was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the games. He won another gold at the 2003 World Youth Championships. He set a new championship record in the 200 m with a time of 20.40 s, despite a 1.1  m/s (4.0 km/h; 2.5 mph) head wind . Michael Johnson , the 200 m world-record holder, took note of Bolt's potential but worried that the young sprinter might be over-pressured, stating, "It's all about what he does three, four, five years down the line". Bolt had also impressed the athletics hierarchy, and he received the IAAF Rising Star Award for 2002. Bolt competed in his final Jamaican High School Championships in 2003. He broke the 200 m and 400 m records with times of 20.25 s and 45.35 s, respectively. Bolt's runs were a significant improvement upon the previous records, beating the 200 m best by more than half a second and the 400 m record by almost a second. Bolt improved upon the 200 m time three months later, setting the former World youth best at the 2003 Pan American Junior Championships. The 400 m time remains No. 6 on the all-time youth list, surpassed only once since, by future Olympic champion Kirani James. Bolt turned his main focus to the 200 m and equalled Roy Martin's world junior record of 20.13 s at the Pan-American Junior Championships. This performance attracted interest from the press, and his times in the 200 m and 400 m led to him being touted as a possible successor to Johnson. Indeed, at sixteen years old, Bolt had reached times that Johnson did not register until he was twenty, and Bolt's 200 m time was superior to Maurice Greene 's season's best that year. Bolt was growing more popular in his homeland. Howard Hamilton, who was given the task of Public Defender by the government, urged the JAAA to nurture him and prevent burnout, calling Bolt "the most phenomenal sprinter ever produced by this island". His popularity and the attractions of the capital city were beginning to be a burden to the young sprinter. Bolt was increasingly unfocused on his athletic career and preferred to eat fast food, play basketball, and party in Kingston's club scene. In the absence of a disciplined lifestyle, he became ever-more reliant on his natural ability to beat his competitors on the track. As the reigning 200 m champion at both the World Youth and World Junior championships, Bolt hoped to take a clean sweep of the world 200 m championships in the Senior World Championships in Paris. He beat all comers at the 200 m in the World Championship trials. Bolt was pragmatic about his chances and noted that, even if he did not make the final, he would consider setting a personal best a success. However, he suffered a bout of conjunctivitis before the event, and it ruined his training schedule. Realising that he would not be in peak condition, the JAAA refused to let him participate in the finals, on the grounds that he was too young and inexperienced. Bolt was dismayed at missing out on the opportunity, but focused on getting himself in shape to gain a place on the Jamaican Olympic team instead. Even though he missed the World Championships, Bolt was awarded the IAAF Rising Star Award for the 2003 season on the strength of his junior record-equalling run. Professional athletics career Under the guidance of new coach Fitz Coleman, Bolt turned professional in 2004, beginning with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda. He became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in under twenty seconds, taking the world junior record outright with a time of 19.93 s. For the second time in the role, he was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 2004 CARIFTA Games. A hamstring injury in May ruined Bolt's chances of competing in the 2004 World Junior Championships, but he was still chosen for the Jamaican Olympic squad. Bolt headed to the 2004 Athens Olympics with confidence and a new record on his side. However, he was hampered by a leg injury and was eliminated in the first round of the 200 metres with a disappointing time of 21.05 s. American colleges offered Bolt track scholarships to train in the United States while continuing to represent Jamaica on the international stage, but the teenager from Trelawny refused them all, stating that he was content to stay in his homeland of Jamaica. Bolt instead chose the surroundings of the University of Technology, Jamaica, as his professional training ground, staying with the university's track and weight room that had served him well in his amateur years. The year 2005 signalled a fresh start for Bolt in the form of a new coach, Glen Mills, and a new attitude toward athletics. Mills recognised Bolt's potential and aimed to cease what he considered an unprofessional approach to the sport. Bolt began training with Mills in preparation for the upcoming athletics season, partnering with more seasoned sprinters such as Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers. The year began well, and in July, he knocked more than a third of a second off the 200 m CAC Championship record with a run of 20.03 s, then registered his 200 m season's best at London's Crystal Palace , running in 19.99 s. Misfortune awaited Bolt at the next major event, the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. Bolt felt that both his work ethic and athleticism had much improved since the 2004 Olympics, and he saw the World Championships as a way to live up to expectations, stating, "I really want to make up for what happened in Athens. Hopefully, everything will fall into place". Bolt qualified with runs under 21 s, but he suffered an injury in the final, finishing in last place with a time of 26.27 s. Injuries were preventing him from completing a full professional athletics season, and the eighteen-year-old Bolt still had not proven his mettle in the major world-athletics competitions. However, his appearance made him the youngest ever person to appear in a 200 m world final. Bolt was involved in a car accident in November, and although he suffered only minor facial lacerations, his training schedule was further upset. His manager at the time, Norman Peart, made Bolt's training less intensive, and he had fully recuperated the following week. Bolt had continued to improve his performances, and he reached the world top-5 rankings in 2005 and 2006. Peart and Mills stated their intentions to push Bolt to do longer sprinting distances with the aim of making the 400 m event his primary event by 2007 or 2008. Bolt was less enthusiastic, and demanded that he feel comfortable in his sprinting. He suffered another hamstring injury in March 2006, forcing him to withdraw from the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne , and he did not return to track events until May. After his recovery, Bolt was given new training exercises to improve flexibility, and the plans to move him up to the 400 m event were put on hold. The 200 m remained Bolt's primary event when he returned to competition; he bested Justin Gatlin 's meet record in Ostrava , Czech Republic. Bolt had aspired to run under twenty seconds to claim a season's best but, despite the fact that bad weather had impaired his run, he was happy to end the meeting with just the victory. However, a sub-20-second finish was soon his, as he set a new personal best of 19.88 s at the 2006 Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne , Switzerland, finishing behind Xavier Carter and Tyson Gay to earn a bronze medal. Bolt had focused his athletics aims, stating that 2006 was a year to gain experience. Also, he was more keen on competing over longer distances, setting his sights on running regularly in both 200 m and 400 m events within the next two years. Bolt claimed his first major world medal two months later at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart , Germany. He passed the finishing post with a time of 20.10 s, gaining a bronze medal in the process. The IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece, yielded Bolt's first senior international silver medal. Wallace Spearmon from the United States won gold with a championship record time of 19.87 s, beating Bolt's respectable time of 19.96 s. Further 200 m honours on both the regional and international stages awaited Bolt in 2007. He yearned to run in the 100 metres but Mills was skeptical, believing that Bolt was better suited for middle distances. The coach cited the runner's difficulty in smoothly starting out of the blocks and poor habits such as looking back at opponents in sprints. Mills told Bolt that he could run the shorter distance if he broke the 200 m national record. In the Jamaican Championships, he ran 19.75 s in the 200 m, breaking the 36-year-old Jamaican record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 s. Mills complied with Bolt's demand to run in the 100 m, and he was entered to run the event at the 23rd Vardinoyiannia meeting in Rethymno , Crete . In his debut tournament, he won the gold medal in a time of 10.03 s, feeding his enthusiasm for the event. He built on this achievement at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka , Japan, winning a silver medal. Bolt recorded 19.91 s with a headwind of 0.8  m/s (2.9 km/h; 1.8 mph). The race was won by Tyson Gay in 19.76 s, a new championship record. Bolt was a member of the silver medal relay team with Asafa Powell, Marvin Anderson, and Nesta Carter in the 4×100 metres relay. Jamaica set a national record of 37.89 s. Bolt did not win any gold medals at the major tournaments in 2007, but Mills felt that Bolt's technique was much improved, pinpointing improvements in Bolt's balance at the turns over 200 m and an increase in his stride frequency, giving him more driving power on the track. The silver medals from the 2007 Osaka World Championships boosted Bolt's desire to sprint, and he took a more serious, more mature stance towards his career. Bolt continued to develop in the 100 m, and he decided to compete in the event at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston. On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran a time of 9.76 s, with a 1.8  m/s (6.5 km/h; 4.0 mph) tail wind , improving his personal best from 10.03 s. This was the second-fastest legal performance in the history of the event, second only to compatriot Asafa Powell's 9.74 s record set the previous year in Rieti , Italy. Rival Tyson Gay lauded the performance, especially praising Bolt's form and technique. Michael Johnson observed the race and said that he was shocked at how quickly Bolt had improved over the 100 m distance. The Jamaican surprised even himself with the time, but coach Glen Mills remained confident that there was more to come. On 31 May 2008, Bolt set a new 100 m world record at the Reebok Grand Prix in the Icahn Stadium in New York City. He ran 9.72s with a tail wind of 1.7  m/s (6.1 km/h; 3.8 mph). This race was Bolt's fifth senior 100 m. Gay again finished second and said of Bolt: "It looked like his knees were going past my face." Commentators noted that Bolt appeared to have gained a psychological advantage over fellow Olympic contender Gay. In June 2008, Bolt responded to claims that he was a lazy athlete, saying that the comments were unjustified, and he trained hard to achieve his potential. However, he surmised that such comments stemmed from his lack of enthusiasm for the 400 metres event; he chose not to make an effort to train for that particular distance. Turning his efforts to the 200 m, Bolt proved that he could excel in two events—first setting the world-leading time in Ostrava , then breaking the national record for the second time with a 19.67 s finish in Athens, Greece . Although Mills still preferred that Bolt focus on the longer distances, the acceptance of Bolt's demand to run in the 100 m worked for both sprinter and trainer. Bolt was more focused in practice, and a training schedule to boost his top speed and his stamina, in preparation for the Olympics, had improved both his 100 m and 200 m times. Bolt doubled-up with the 100 metres and 200 metres events at the Beijing Summer Olympics . As the new 100 m world-record holder, he was the favourite to win both races. Michael Johnson , the 200 m and 400 m record holder, personally backed the sprinter, saying that he did not believe that a lack of experience would work against him. Bolt qualified for the 100 m final with times of 9.92 s and 9.85 s in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively. In the Olympic 100 m final (16 August), Bolt broke new ground, winning in 9.69 s (unofficially 9.683 s) with a reaction time of 0.165 s. This was an improvement upon his own world record, and he was well ahead of second-place finisher Richard Thompson, who finished in 9.89 s. Not only was the record set with no favourable wind (0.0 m/s), but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished and his shoelace was untied. Bolt's coach reported that, based upon the speed of Bolt's opening 60 m, he could have finished with a time of 9.52 s. After scientific analysis of Bolt's run by the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo , Hans Eriksen and his colleagues also predicted a sub 9.60 s time. Considering factors such as Bolt's position, acceleration and velocity in comparison with second-place-finisher Thompson, the team estimated that Bolt could have finished in 9.55±0.04 s had he not slowed to celebrate before the finishing line. Bolt stated that setting a world record was not a priority for him, and that his goal was just to win the gold medal, Jamaica's first of the 2008 Games. Olympic medallist Kriss Akabusi construed Bolt's chest slapping before the finish line as showboating, noting that the actions cost Bolt an even faster record time. IOC president Jacques Rogge also condemned the Jamaican's actions as disrespectful. Bolt denied that this was the purpose of his celebration by saying, "I wasn't bragging. When I saw I wasn't covered, I was just happy". Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF , supported Bolt and said that his celebration was appropriate given the circumstances of his victory. Jamaican government minister Edmund Bartlett also defended Bolt's actions, stating, "We have to see it in the glory of their moment and give it to them. We have to allow the personality of youth to express itself". Bolt then focused on attaining a gold medal in the 200 m event, aiming to emulate Carl Lewis ' double win in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics . Michael Johnson felt that Bolt would easily win gold but believed that his own world record of 19.32 s set at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta would remain intact at the Olympics. Bolt eased through the first and second rounds of the 200 m, jogging towards the end of his run both times. He won his semi-final and progressed to the final as the favourite to win. Retired Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie praised Bolt, saying he was confident that Johnson's record could be beaten. The following day, at the final, he won Jamaica's fourth gold of the Games, setting a new world and Olympic record of 19.30 s. Johnson's record fell despite the fact that Bolt was impeded by a 0.9  m/s (3.2 km/h; 2.0 mph) headwind. The feat made him the first sprinter since Quarrie to hold both 100 m and 200 m world records simultaneously and the first to hold both records since the introduction of electronic timing. Furthermore, Bolt became the first sprinter to break both records at the same Olympics. Unlike in the 100 m final, Bolt sprinted hard all the way to the finishing line in the 200 m race, even dipping his chest to improve his time. Following the race, "Happy Birthday" was played over the stadium's sound system as his 22nd birthday would begin at midnight. Two days later, Bolt ran as the third leg in the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, increasing his gold medal total to three. Along with teammates Nesta Carter , Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell, Bolt broke another world and Olympic record, their 37.10 s finish breaking the previous record by three-tenths of a second. Powell, who anchored the team to the finishing line, lamented the loss of his 100m record to Bolt but showed no animosity towards his Jamaican rival, stating that he was delighted to help him set his third world record. In January 2017 the Jamaican relay teammates were stripped of their gold medals when a blood sample taken from Carter after the race was retested and found positive for a banned substance. Following his victories, Bolt donated US$50,000 to the children of Sichuan province in China to help those harmed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake . Bolt's record-setting runs caused commentators not only to praise his achievements but to speculate about his potential to become one of the most successful sprinters in history. At the end of the 2008 athletics season, Bolt competed in the ÅF Golden League, beginning in Weltklasse Zürich. Despite having the slowest start among his competitors in the 100 m race, he still crossed the finishing line in 9.83 s. Even though the time was slower than both his newly set world record and Asafa Powell's track record, it was still among the top-fifteen 100 m finishes by any sprinter to that date. Bolt admitted that he was not running at full strength because he was suffering from a cold, but he concentrated on winning the race and finishing the season in good health. At the Super Grand Prix final in Lausanne , Bolt ran his second-fastest 200 m with a time of 19.63 s, equalling Xavier Carter 's track record. However, it was the 100 m final, featuring Asafa Powell, that drew the most interest. Powell had moved closer to Bolt's world record after setting a new personal best of 9.72 s, reaffirming his status as Bolt's main contender. Bolt's final event of the season came three days later at the Golden League final in Brussels . This was the first 100 m race featuring both Bolt and Powell since the final in the Olympics. Both Jamaicans broke the track record, but Bolt came out on top with a time of 9.77 s, beating Powell by 0.06 s. Victory, however, did not come as smoothly as it had in Beijing. Bolt made the slowest start of the nine competitors and had to recover ground in cold conditions and against a 0.9  m/s (3.2 km/h; 2.0 mph) headwind. Yet the results confirmed Jamaican dominance in the 100 m, with nine of the ten-fastest legal times in history being recorded by either Bolt or Powell. On his return to Jamaica, Bolt was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an Order of Distinction in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics. Additionally, Bolt was selected as the IAAF Male Athlete of the year, won a Special Olympic Award for his performances, and was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. Bolt turned his attention to future events, suggesting that he could aim to break the 400 metres world record in 2010 as no major championships were scheduled that year. Bolt started the season competing in the 400 metres in order to improve his speed, winning two races and registering 45.54 s in Kingston, and windy conditions gave him his first sub-10 seconds finish of the season in the 100 m in March. In late April, Bolt suffered minor leg injuries in a car crash. However, he quickly recovered following minor surgery and (after cancelling a track meet in Jamaica) he stated that he was fit to compete in the 150 metres street race at the Manchester Great City Games. Bolt won the race in 14.35 s, the fastest time ever recorded for 150 m. Despite not being at full fitness, he took the 100 and 200 m titles at the Jamaican national championships, with runs of 9.86 s and 20.25 s respectively. This meant he had qualified for both events at the 2009 World Championships. Rival Tyson Gay suggested that Bolt's 100 m record was within his grasp, but Bolt dismissed the claim and instead noted that he was more interested in Asafa Powell's return from injury. Bolt defied unfavourable conditions at the Athletissima meet in July, running 19.59 seconds into a 0.9  m/s (3.2 km/h; 2.0 mph) headwind and rain, to record the fourth fastest time ever over 200 m, one hundredth off Gay's best time. The 2009 World Championships were held during August at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, which was coincidentally the same month and venue where Jesse Owens had achieved world-wide fame 73 years earlier. Bolt eased through the 100-m heats, clocking the fastest ever pre-final performance of 9.89 seconds. The final was the first time that Bolt and Gay had met during the season, and Bolt set a new world record—which stands to this day—with a time of 9.58s to win his first World Championship gold medal. Bolt took more than a tenth of a second off his previous best mark, and this was the largest-ever margin of improvement in the 100-m world record since the beginning of electronic timing. Gay finished with a time of 9.71 s, 0.02 s off Bolt's 9.69 s world-record run in Beijing. Although Gay withdrew from the second race of the competition, Bolt once again produced world record-breaking time in the 200 metres final. He broke his own record by 0.11 seconds, finishing with a time of 19.19 seconds. He won the 200 m race by the largest margin in World Championships history, even though the race had three other athletes running under 19.90 seconds, the greatest number ever in the event. Bolt's pace impressed even the more experienced of his competitors; third-placed Wallace Spearmon complimented his speed, and the Olympic champion in Athens 2004 Shawn Crawford said "Just coming out there...I felt like I was in a video game, that guy was moving – fast". Bolt pointed out that an important factor in his performance at the World Championships was his improved start to the races: his reaction times in the 100 m (0.146) and 200 m (0.133) were significantly faster than those he had produced in his world record runs at the Beijing Olympics. However, he, together with other members of Jamaican 4×100 m relay team, fell short of their own world record of 37.10 s set at 2008 Summer Olympics by timing 37.31 s, which is, however, a championship record and the second fastest time in history at that date. On the last day of the Berlin Championships, the Governing Mayor of Berlin , Klaus Wowereit , presented Bolt with a 12-foot high section of the Berlin Wall in a small ceremony, saying Bolt had shown that "one can tear down walls that had been considered as insurmountable." The nearly three-ton segment was delivered to the Jamaica Military Museum in Kingston . Several days after Bolt broke the world records in 100 and 200 metres events, Mike Powell , the world record holder in long jump (8.95 metres set in 1991) argued that Bolt could become the first man to jump over 9 metres, the long jump event being "a perfect fit for his speed and height". At the end of the season, he was selected as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year for the second year running. Early on in the 2010 outdoor season, Bolt ran 19.56 seconds in the 200 m in Kingston, Jamaica for the fourth-fastest run of all time, although he stated that he had no record breaking ambitions for the forthcoming season. He took to the international circuit May with wins in East Asia at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting and then a comfortable win in his 2010 IAAF Diamond League debut at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. Bolt made an attempt to break Michael Johnson's best time over the rarely competed 300 metres event at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava. He failed to match Johnson's ten-year-old record of 30.85 and suffered a setback in that his 30.97-second run in wet weather had left him with an Achilles tendon problem. After his return from injury a month later, Bolt asserted himself with a 100 m win at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne (9.82 seconds) and a victory over Asafa Powell at Meeting Areva in Paris (9.84 seconds). Despite this run of form, he suffered only the second loss of his career in a 100 m final at the DN Galan. Tyson Gay soundly defeated him with a run of 9.84 to Bolt's 9.97 seconds, and the Jamaican reflected that he had slacked off in training early in the season while Gay had been better prepared and in a better condition. This marked Bolt's first loss to Gay in the 100 m, which coincidentally occurred in the same stadium where Powell had beaten Bolt for the first time two years earlier. Bolt went undefeated over 100 m and 200 m in the 2011 season. He began with wins in Rome and Ostrava in May. He ran his first 200 m in over a year in Oslo that June and his time of 19.86 seconds was a world-leading one. Two further 200 m wins came in Paris and Stockholm the following month, as did a 100 m in Monaco, though he was a tenth of a second slower than compatriot Asafa Powell before the world championships. Considered the favourite to win in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu , Bolt was eliminated from the final, breaking "ridiculously early" according to the starter in an interview for BBC Sport, and receiving a false start. This proved to be the highest profile disqualification for a false start since the IAAF changed the rules that previously allowed one false start per race. The disqualification caused some to question the new rule, with former world champion Kim Collins saying it was "a sad night for athletics". Usain Bolt's countryman, Yohan Blake , won in a comparatively slow 9.92 seconds. In the World Championships 200 m, Bolt cruised through to the final which he won in a time of 19.40. Though this was short of his world record times of the two previous major tournaments, it was the fourth fastest run ever at that point, after his own records and Michael Johnson's former record, and left him three tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Walter Dix. This achievement made Bolt one of only two men to win consecutive 200 m world titles, alongside Calvin Smith . Bolt closed the championships with another gold with Jamaica in the 4 × 100 metres relay. Nesta Carter and Michael Frater joined world champions Bolt and Blake to set a world record time of 37.04. Following the World Championships, Bolt ran 9.85 seconds for the 100 m to win in Zagreb before setting the year's best time of 9.76 seconds at the Memorial Van Damme . This run was overshadowed by Jamaican rival Blake's unexpected run of 19.26 seconds in the 200 m at the same meeting, which brought him within seven hundredths of Bolt's world record. Although Bolt failed to win the Diamond Race in a specific event, he was not beaten on the 2011 IAAF Diamond League circuit, taking three wins in each of his specialities that year. Bolt began the 2012 season with a leading 100 m time of 9.82 seconds in May. He defeated Asafa Powell with runs of 9.76 seconds in Rome and 9.79 in Oslo. At the Jamaican Athletics Championships, he lost to Yohan Blake, first in the 200 m and then in the 100 m, with his younger rival setting leading times for the year. However, at the 2012 London Olympics, he won the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.63 seconds, improving upon his own Olympic record and duplicating his gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Blake was the silver medallist with a time of 9.75 seconds. Following the race, seventh-place finisher Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago declared "There's no doubt he's the greatest sprinter of all time", while USA Today referred to Bolt as a Jamaican "national hero", noting that his victory came just hours before Jamaica was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its independence from the United Kingdom. With his 2012 win, Bolt became the first man to successfully defend an Olympic sprint title since Carl Lewis in 1988. Bolt followed this up with a successful defence of his Olympic 200 metres title with a time of 19.32 seconds, followed by Blake at 19.44 and Warren Weir at 19.84 to complete a Jamaican podium sweep. With this, Bolt became the first man in history to defend both the 100 m and 200 m Olympic sprint titles. He was dramatic in victory: in the final metres of the 200 m race, Bolt placed his fingers on his lips, gesturing to silence his critics, and after crossing the line he completed five push-ups – one for each of his Olympic gold medals. On the final day of the 2012 Olympic athletics, Bolt participated in Jamaica's gold medal-winning 4×100 metres relay team along with Nesta Carter , Michael Frater and Blake. With a time of 36.84 seconds, they knocked two tenths of a second from their previous world record from 2011. He celebrated by imitating the " Mobot " celebration of Mo Farah , who had claimed a long-distance track double for the host nation. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge initially stated that Bolt was not yet a "legend" and would not deserve such acclaim until the end of his career, but later called him the best sprinter of all time. Following the Olympics he was confirmed as the highest earning track and field athlete in history. Bolt ended his season with wins on the 2012 IAAF Diamond League circuit; he had 200 m wins of 19.58 and 19.66 in Lausanne and Zürich before closing with a 100 m of 9.86 in Brussels. The latter run brought him his first Diamond League title in the 100 m. Bolt failed to record below 10 seconds early season and had his first major 100 m race of 2013 at the Golden Gala in June. He was served an unexpected defeat by Justin Gatlin , with the American winning 9.94 to Bolt's 9.95. Bolt denied the loss was due to a hamstring issue he had early that year and Gatlin responded: "I don't know how many people have beaten Bolt but it's an honour". With Yohan Blake injured, Bolt won the Jamaican 100 m title ahead of Kemar Bailey-Cole and skipped the 200 m, which was won by Warren Weir. Prior to the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Bolt set world leading times in the sprints, with 9.85 for the 100 m at the London Anniversary Games and 19.73 for the 200 m in Paris. Bolt regained the title as world's fastest man by winning the World Championships 100 metres in Moscow. In wet conditions, he edged Gatlin by eight hundredths of a second with 9.77, which was the fastest run that year. Gatlin was the sole non-Jamaican in the top five, with Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade and Bailey-Cole finishing next. Bolt was less challenged in the 200 m final. His closest rival was Jamaican champion Warren Weir but Bolt ran a time of 19.66 to finish over a tenth of a second clear. This performance made Bolt the first man in the history of the 200 metres at the World Championships in Athletics to win three gold medals over the distance. Bolt won a third consecutive world relay gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay final, which made him the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the world championships. The Jamaican team, featuring four of the top five from the 100 m final were comfortable winners with Bolt reaching the finish line on his anchor leg three tenths of a second ahead of the American team anchored by Gatlin. Bolt's performances were matched on the women's side by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce , meaning Jamaica took a complete sweep of the sprint medals at the 2013 World Championships. After the championships, Bolt took 100 m wins on the 2013 IAAF Diamond League circuit in Zürich and Brussels. He remained unbeaten in the 200 m and his only loss that year was to Gatlin over 100 m in Rome. For the fifth time in six years, Bolt was named IAAF World Male Athlete of the Year. An injury to Bolt's hamstring in March 2014 caused him to miss nine weeks of training. Having recovered from surgery, Bolt competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Not in peak form Bolt said that he was attending the Games for the fans and to show his progress since the injury. Bolt and his teammates won the 4 × 100 metres relay in 37.58 seconds – a Commonwealth Games record. This was the foremost competition of the year for Bolt, given no Olympics or World Championships in 2014. In August 2014, Bolt set the indoor 100 m world record in Warsaw with a time of 9.98 seconds. This was his sole individual outing of the 2014 season. Soon afterwards he ended his season early in order to be fit for the 2015 season. In Bolt's absence, Justin Gatlin had dominated the sprints, holding the year's fastest times, including seven of the top ten 100 m runs that season. At the start of 2015, he intended to make the 2017 World Championships in Athletics his last major competition before retirement. Upon his return from injury, Bolt appeared a reduced figure at the start of the 2015 season. He ran only two 100 m and three 200 m before the major championship. He opened with 10.12 seconds for the 100 m and 20.20 for the 200 m. He won the 200 m in New York and Ostrava, but his season's best time of 20.13 seconds ranked him 20th in the world going into the championships. Two 100 m runs of 9.87 in July in London showed better form, but in comparison, Justin Gatlin was easily the top ranked sprinter – the American had times of 9.74 and 19.57 seconds, and had already run under 9.8 seconds on four occasions that season. Bolt entered the World Championships to defend his sprint titles but was not the comfortable favourite he had been since 2008. In the World Championships 100 m, Bolt won his semi-final in 9.96, which lagged Gatlin's semi-final win in 9.77 seconds. However, Gatlin did not match that form in the final while Bolt improved through the rounds. In a narrow victory, Bolt leaned at the line to beat Gatlin 9.79 to 9.80 seconds. Bolt joined Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene on a record three 100 m world titles. A similar outcome followed in the 200 m World finals. In the semi-final, Gatlin outpaced Bolt – the Jamaican at 19.95 and the American at 19.87. Despite such slow times prior to Beijing, Bolt delivered in the final with his fifth fastest run ever for the 200 m at 19.55 seconds. Gatlin failed to reach his early season form and finished almost two-tenths of a second behind Bolt. Bolt's four consecutive wins over 200 m at the World Championships was unprecedented and established him clearly as the best ever sprinter at the competition. There was also a fourth straight win in the 4 × 100 metres relay with the Jamaica team ( Nesta Carter , Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain Bolt). The Americans initially had a lead, but a poor baton exchange saw them disqualified and Jamaica defend their title in 37.36 seconds – well clear of the Chinese team who took a surprise silver for the host nation. Conscious of his injuries at the start of the season, he did not compete after the World Championships, skipping the 2015 IAAF Diamond League final. Bolt competed sparingly in the 200 m before the Olympics, with a run of 19.89 seconds to win at the London Grand Prix being his sole run of note over that distance. He had four races over 100 m, though only one was in Europe, and his best of 9.88 seconds in Kingston placed him fourth on the world seasonal rankings. As in the previous season, Gatlin appeared to be in better form, having seasonal bests of 9.80 and 19.75 seconds to rank first and second in the sprints. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Bolt won the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.81 seconds. With this win, Bolt became the first athlete to win the event three times at the Olympic Games. Bolt followed up his 100 m win with a gold medal in the 200 m, which also makes him the first athlete to win the 200 m three times at the Olympic Games. Bolt ran the anchor leg for the finals of the 4 × 100 m relay and secured his third consecutive and last Olympic gold medal in the event. With that win, Bolt obtained the "triple-triple", three sprinting gold medals in three consecutive Olympics, and finished his Olympic career with a 100% win record in finals. However, in January 2017, Bolt was stripped of the 4 × 100 relay gold from the Beijing Games in 2008 because his teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of a doping violation. Bolt took a financial stake in a new Australia-based track and field meeting series – Nitro Athletics. He performed at the inaugural meet in February 2017 and led his team (Bolt All-Stars) to victory. The competition featured variations on traditional track and field events. He committed himself to three further editions. In 2017, the Jamaican team was stripped of the 2008 Olympics 4×100 metre title due to Nesta Carter 's disqualification for doping offences. Bolt was quoted by the BBC saying that the prospect of having to return the gold was "heartbreaking". At the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Bolt won his heat uncomfortably after a slow start in 10.07, in his semi-final he improved to 9.98 but was beaten by Christian Coleman by 0.01. That race broke Bolt's 4 year winning streak in the 100 m. In his final individual race, in the final, Bolt won the bronze medal in 9.95, 0.01 behind silver medalist Coleman and 0.03 behind World Champion Justin Gatlin . It was the first time Bolt had been beaten at a major championship since the 4×100 m relay of the 2007 World Athletics Championships. Also at the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Bolt participated as the anchor runner for Jamaica's 4×100-metre relay team in both the heats and the final. Jamaica won their heat comfortably in 37.95 seconds. In what was intended to be his final race, Bolt pulled up in agony with 50 metres to go and collapsed to the track after what was later confirmed to be another hamstring injury. He refused a wheelchair and crossed the finish line one last time with the assistance of his teammates Omar McLeod, Julian Forte, and Yohan Blake . Following his 2017 season, Bolt had a statue of him unveiled in his honour at the National Stadium in Kingston on 3 December 2017. The statue shows him in his signature "lightning bolt" pose. Personal life Bolt expresses a love for dancing and his character is frequently described as laid-back and relaxed. His Jamaican track and field idols include Herb McKenley and former Jamaican 100 m and 200 m world record holder Don Quarrie. Michael Johnson , the former 200 m world and Olympic record holder, is also held in high esteem by Bolt. Bolt has the nickname "Lightning Bolt" due to his name and speed. He is Catholic and known for making the sign of the cross before racing competitively, and he wears a Miraculous Medal during his races. His middle name is St. Leo. In 2010, Bolt also revealed his fondness of music, when he played a reggae DJ set to a crowd in Paris. He is also an avid fan of the Call of Duty video game series, saying, "I stay up late [playing the game online], I can't help it." In his autobiography, Bolt wrote that he suffered from scoliosis , a curvature of the spine which made his right leg 1 ⁄ 2 inch (13 mm) shorter than his left. This condition causes an uneven stride, with his left leg remaining on the ground for longer than his right, and hitting the ground with a lesser force. Biomechanics researchers have studied, with no firm conclusions, whether this asymmetry has helped or hurt Bolt in his sprinting career. He popularised the "lightning bolt" pose, also known as "to di world" or "bolting", which he used both before races and in celebration. The pose consists of extending a slightly raised left arm to the side and the right arm folded across the chest, with both hands have the thumb and index finger outstretched. His performance of the pose during his Olympic and World Championship victories led to widespread copying of the move, from American President Barack Obama to small children. It has been suggested that the pose comes from Jamaican dancehall moves of the period, though Olympic sprint champion Bernard Williams also had performed similar celebration moves earlier that decade. His habit of fist bumping the volunteers for good luck has been noted in the media. In 2021, Bolt told the BBC that his love for video games , such as Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat , helped him during his Olympic career. Usain Bolt had fallen victim to a fraud scheme, resulting in the disappearance of more than $12 million from his retirement savings account, according to a letter from his attorneys obtained by the Associated Press. The account, held with Kingston-based investment firm Stocks and Securities Ltd., showed a balance of only $12,000, down from its previous $12.8 million. Bolt's legal team had stated that if the allegations were true, a serious act of fraud or larceny had been committed against their client. On 17 May 2020, Bolt's longtime girlfriend Kasi Bennett gave birth to their first child, daughter Olympia Lightning. Bolt and Bennett welcomed twin boys Thunder and Saint Leo in June 2021. Cricket was the first sport to interest Bolt, and he said if he were not a sprinter, he would be a fast bowler instead. As a child, he admired the bowling of Waqar Younis . He is also a fan of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar , West Indian opener Chris Gayle , and Australian opener Matthew Hayden . During a charity cricket match, Bolt clean-bowled Gayle, who was complimentary of Bolt's pace and swing. Bolt also struck a six off Gayle's bowling. Another bowler complimentary of Bolt's pace was former West Indies fast-bowling great Curtly Ambrose. After talking with Australian cricketer Shane Warne , Bolt suggested that if he were able to get time off he would be interested in playing in the cricket Big Bash League. Melbourne Stars chief executive Clint Cooper said there were free spots on his team should he be available. Bolt stated that he enjoyed the Twenty20 version of the game, admiring the aggressive and constant nature of the batting. On his own ability, he said, "I don't know how good I am. I will probably have to get a lot of practice in." Bolt is also a fan of Premier League football team Manchester United . He has declared he is a fan of Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy . Bolt was a special guest of Manchester United at the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final in London, where he stated that he would like to play for them after his retirement. In 2013, Bolt played basketball in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. He scored two points from a slam dunk but acknowledged his other basketball skills were lacking. In an interview with Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian in November 2016, Bolt said he wished to play as a professional footballer after retiring from track and field. He reiterated his desire to play for Manchester United if given a chance and added, "For me, if I could get to play for Manchester United, that would be like a dream come true. Yes, that would be epic." In 2018, after training with Norwegian side Strømsgodset, Bolt played for the club as a forward in a friendly match against the Norway national under-19 team. He wore the number "9.58" in allusion to his 100 m world record. Bolt wore the same number whilst captaining the World XI during Soccer Aid 2018 at Old Trafford . On 21 August 2018, on his 32nd birthday, Bolt started training with Australian club Central Coast Mariners of the A-League . He made his friendly debut for the club as a substitute on 31 August 2018 against a Central Coast Select team, made up of players playing in the local area. On 12 October, he started in a friendly against amateur club Macarthur South West United and scored two goals, both in the second half, with his goal celebration featuring his signature "To Di World" pose. Bolt was offered a two-year contract from Maltese club Valletta, which he turned down on 18 October 2018. On 21 October 2018, Bolt was offered a contract by the Mariners. The Australian FA was helping the Mariners to fund it. Later that month, Perth Glory forward Andy Keogh was critical of Bolt's ability, stating his first touch is "like a trampoline." He added Bolt has "shown a bit of potential but it's a little bit of a kick in the teeth to the professionals that are in the league." Bolt left the Mariners in early November 2018 after 8 weeks with the club. In January 2019, Bolt decided not to pursue a career in football, saying his "sports life is over." Bolt, a Green Bay Packers fan, stated in July 2021 he could have considered a career as a wide receiver in the National Football League had the rules on violent tackles related to concussions been as tightly regulated 'back in the day' as they were by that stage. If he had switched to gridiron football, his concern was that he would have been a high-priced target for very heavy hits which made him back out of his desire to try the sport. He also felt certain that even at 34 and being retired he would comfortably be the fastest player in the league. A documentary film based on the athletic life of Bolt to win three Olympic gold medals, titled I Am Bolt , was released on 28 November 2016 in United Kingdom. The film was directed by Benjamin Turner and Gabe Turner. After winning the 200 m title in the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Bolt signed a sponsorship deal with Puma . To promote Bolt's chase for Olympic glory in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Puma released a series of videos including Bolt's then-world-record-setting run in Icahn Stadium and his Olympic preparations. After his record-breaking run in New York City, which was preceded by a lightning storm , the press frequently made puns on the Jamaican's name, nicknaming him "Lightning Bolt" and the "Bolt from the blue". During the 2008 Beijing 100 m final, Bolt wore golden Puma Complete Theseus spikes that had "Beijing 100 m Gold" emblazoned across them. In September 2010, Bolt travelled to Australia where his sponsor Gatorade was holding an event called the "Gatorade Bolt" to find Australia's fastest footballer. The event was held at the Sydney International Athletic Centre and featured football players from rugby league , rugby union , Australian rules football , and association football . Prior to the race Bolt gave the runners some private coaching and also participated in the 10th anniversary celebrations for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games . In January 2012, Bolt impersonated Richard Branson in an advertising campaign for Virgin Media . The campaign was directed by Seth Gordon and features the Virgin founder Branson to promote its broadband service. In March 2012, Bolt starred in an advert for Visa and the 2012 Summer Olympics. In July 2012, Bolt and RockLive launched Bolt! , an Apple iOS game based on his exploits. Bolt! quickly became the No. 1 app in Jamaica and climbed the UK iTunes charts to reach No. 2 on the list of Top Free Apps. In 2012, Bolt collaborated with headphone maker Soul Electronics to design his own line of headphones. Bolt designed both an in-ear bud and over-ear model with the Jamaican color scheme and his signature "To Di World" pose. Bolt's autobiography, My Story: 9.58: Being the World's Fastest Man , was released in 2010. Bolt had previously said that the book "...should be exciting, it's my life, and I'm a cool and exciting guy." His athletics agent is PACE Sports Management. As part of his sponsorship deal with Puma, the manufacturer sends sporting equipment to his alma mater, William Knibb Memorial High School, every year. At Bolt's insistence, advertisements featuring him are filmed in Jamaica, by a Jamaican production crew, in an attempt to boost local enterprise and gain exposure for the country. In 2017, Bolt had the third highest earning social media income for sponsors among sportspeople (behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar ), and he was the only non-footballer in the top seven. Bolt is the highest paid athlete in the history of the sport. In 2016, Bolt earned about $33 million in one year putting him at No. 32 on Forbes list of The World's Highest-paid Athletes making him the only track and field athlete on the list. Usain Bolt co-founded electric scooter company Bolt Mobility in 2018, created in his namesake. Bolt founded the micromobility company, which provides electric scooters and other yet-to-be released mobility devices, such as the company's upcoming Bolt Nano . Bolt appeared in Bolt Mobility's debut commercial, released through YouTube and his official Facebook account. Bolt appeared in a number of interviews for the company, alongside CEO Sarah Pishevar Haynes. Bolt made his first public appearance for the company in March 2019, during the company's New York City launch and in CNBC interviews on the NYSE . In May 2019, the company expanded its services to Europe, introducing the product first in Paris . In May 2019, Bolt spoke in Paris at the Viva Technology conference, where he introduced the company's future release of the Nano minicar. He also met with French president Emmanuel Macron while at the conference. While in France, Bolt participated in a CNN interview where he revealed his reasons for founding the company. Bolt argues that his scooter is different, which allows bag, shopping and mobile phone storage. The scooters have capabilities to reach up to 30 mph, but are typically capped at 15 mph depending on city regulation. The company has begun operations in a number of U.S. cities, and plans to expand throughout Europe and Asia. In early July 2022, Bolt Mobility abruptly ceased operations, leaving bike-sharing programs up in the air, including Burlington, Vermont; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, California; and Richmond, Virginia. In July 2019, Bolt made his debut as a dancehall music producer with the release of the Olympe Rosé riddim that featured 5 tracks from Jamaican dancehall artistes: Dexta Daps "Big Moves", Munga Honorable "Weekend", Christopher Martin "Dweet", Ding Dong "Top A Di Top" and football player turned artist Ricardo "Bibi" Gardner "Mount A Gyal". In November 2019, he followed up with another compilation called Immortal Riddim that included tracks from Vybz Kartel, Masicka, Munga Honorable and Christopher Martin. In early January 2021, Bolt released a single titled "Living the Dream" with his childhood friend and manager Nugent 'NJ' Walker. IAAF World Athlete of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 Track & Field Athlete of the Year: 2008, 2009 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2012 L'Équipe Champion of Champions: 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015 Jamaica Sportsman of the year: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 AIPS Male Athlete of the Year: 2015 Marca Leyenda (2009) In October 2008, he was made a Commander of the Order of Distinction, which entitles him to use the post nominal letters CD. In 2009, at age 23, Usain Bolt became the youngest member so far of the Order of Jamaica . The award was "for outstanding performance in the field of athletics at the international level". In the Jamaican honours system, this is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system , and entitles him to be formally styled " The Honourable ", and to use the post nominal letters OJ . Event Time (seconds) Venue Date Records Notes 9.58 , 16 August 2009 Also has the second fastest time (9.63) and shares the third fastest time of 9.69 with Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake. Bolt's 9.63 is the Olympic record, set at the 2012 games. 150 metres 14.35 , 17 May 2009 He ran the last 100 m in 8.70, the fastest ever recorded time over a 100 m distance. This would equal an average speed of 41.38 km/h (25.71 mph). 200 metres 19.19 , 20 August 2009 Also holds the Olympic record with 19.30, which was then (2008) a world record. 300 metres 30.97 , 27 May 2010 This is the fourth fastest time, behind Letsile Tebogo 30.69, Wayde van Niekerk 30.81 & Michael Johnson 30.85. The event is not recognised by the . 400 metres 45.28 , 5 May 2007 4 × 100 metres relay 36.84 , 11 August 2012 Shared with , Michael Frater and . Bolt's personal best of 9.58 seconds in 2009 in the 100 metres is the fastest ever run. Bolt also holds the second fastest time of 9.63 seconds, the current Olympic record, and set two previous world records in the event. Bolt's personal best of 19.19 s in the 200 metres is the world record. This was recorded at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin against a headwind of −0.3  m/s (−1.1 km/h; −0.67 mph). This performance broke his previous world record in the event, his 19.30 s clocking in winning the 2008 Olympic 200 metres title. Bolt has been on three world-record-setting Jamaican relay teams. The first record, 37.10 seconds, was set in winning gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics, although the result was voided in 2017 when the team was disqualified. The second record came at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, a time of 37.04 seconds. The third world record was set at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a time of 36.84 seconds. Bolt also holds the 200 metres world teenage best results for the age categories 15 (20.58 s), 16 (20.13 s, former world youth record), 17 (19.93 s) and 18 (19.93 s, world junior record). He also holds the 150 metres world best set in 2009, during which he ran the last 100 metres in 8.70 seconds, the quickest timed 100 metres ever. Bolt completed a total of 53 wind-legal sub-10-second performances in the 100 m during his career, with his first coming on 3 May 2008 and his last on 5 August 2017 at the World Championships. His longest undefeated streak in the 200 m was in 17 finals, lasting from 12 June 2008 to 3 September 2011. He also had a win-streak covering 14 100 m finals from 16 August 2008 to 16 July 2010. Bolt claimed 19 Guinness World Records , and, after Michael Phelps , holds the second-highest number of accumulative Guinness World Records for total number of accomplishments and victories in sports. Fastest run 150 metres (male) Most medals won at the IAAF Athletics World Championships (male) Most gold medals won at the IAAF Athletics World Championships (male) Most Athletics World Championships Men's 200 m wins Most consecutive Olympic gold medals won in the 100 metres (male) Most consecutive Olympic gold medals won in the 200 metres (male) Most Olympic men's 200 metres Gold medals Fastest run 200 metres (male) Most Men's IAAF World Athlete of Year Trophies First Olympic track sprint triple-double Highest annual earnings for a track athlete Most wins of the 100 m sprint at the Olympic Games First athlete to win the 100 m and 200 m sprints at successive Olympic Games Fastest run 100 metres (male) First man to win the 200 m sprint at successive Olympic Games Most Athletics World Championships Men's 100 m wins Most tickets sold at an IAAF World Championships Most competitive 100 m sprint races completed in sub 10 seconds Fastest relay 4×100 metres (male) From his record time of 9.58 s for the 100 m sprint, Usain Bolt's average ground speed equates to 37.58 km/h (23.35 mph). However, once his reaction time of 0.148 s is subtracted, his time is 9.44 s, making his average speed 38.18 km/h (23.72 mph). Bolt's top speed, based on his split time of 1.61 s for the 20 metres from the 60- to 80-metre marks (made during the 9.58 WR at 100m), is 12.42 m/s (44.72 km/h (27.79 mph)). World rank in parentheses Year 100 metres 200 metres 400 metres 2001 — 21.73 48.28 2002 — 20.58 47.12 2003 — 20.13 (9) 45.35 2004 — 19.93 (2) 47.58 2005 — 19.99 (3) — 2006 — 19.88 (4) 47.58 2007 10.03 (12) 19.75 (3) 2008 9.69 (1) 19.30 (1) 46.94 2009 (1) (1) 45.54 2010 9.82 (4) 19.56 (1) 45.87 2011 9.76 (1) 19.40 (2) — 2012 9.63 (1) 19.32 (1) — 2013 9.77 (1) 19.66 (1) 46.44 2014 9.98 (16) — — 2015 9.79 (2) 19.55 (1) 46.38 2016 9.81 (2) 19.78 (3) — 2017 9.95 (10) — — Representing Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes 2001 CARIFTA Games , Barbados 2nd 200 m 21.81 2nd 400 m 48.28 World Youth Championships , Hungary 17th (semis) 200 m 21.73 4th Medley relay 1:52.36 2002 CAC Junior Championships (U17) , Barbados 1st 200 m 20.61 1st 400 m 47.12 1st 4×100 m relay 40.95 1st 4×400 m relay 3:16.61 CARIFTA Games 1st 200 m 21.12 1st 400 m 47.33 1st 4×400 m relay 3:18.88 World Junior Championships 1st 200 m 20.61 2nd 4×100 m relay 39.15 2nd 4×400 m relay 3:04.06 2003 CARIFTA Games , Trinidad and Tobago 1st 200 m 20.43 1st 400 m 46.35 1st 4×100 m relay 39.43 1st 4×400 m relay 3:09.70 World Youth Championships , Canada 1st 200 m 20.40 (semis) 400 m — (semis) Medley relay — Pan American Junior Championships , Barbados 1st 200 m 20.13 2nd 4×100 m relay 39.40 2004 CARIFTA Games 1st 200 m 19.93 1st 4×100 m relay 39.48 1st 4×400 m relay 3:12.00 Olympic Games , Greece 40th (heats) 200 m 21.05 2005 CAC Championships 1st 200 m 20.03 World Championships , Finland 8th 200 m 26.27 2006 World Athletics Final , Germany 3rd 200 m 20.10 IAAF World Cup , Greece 2nd 200 m 19.96 2007 World Championships , Japan 2nd 200 m 19.91 2nd 4×100 m relay 37.89 2008 Olympic Games , China 1st 100 m 9.69 1st 200 m 19.30 4×100 m relay — 2009 World Championships , Germany 1st 100 m 9.58 1st 200 m 19.19 1st 4×100 m relay 37.31 World Athletics Final , Greece 1st 200 m 19.68 = 2011 World Championships , South Korea 100 m — False start 1st 200 m 19.40 1st 4×100 m relay 37.04 2012 Olympic Games , United Kingdom 1st 100 m 9.63 1st 200 m 19.32 1st 4×100 m relay 36.84 2013 World Championships , Russia 1st 100 m 9.77 1st 200 m 19.66 1st 4×100 m relay 37.36 2014 , United Kingdom 1st 4×100 m relay 37.58 2015 World Relays 2nd 4×100 m relay 37.68 World Championships , China 1st 100 m 9.79 1st 200 m 19.55 1st 4×100 m relay 37.36 2016 Olympic Games , Brazil 1st 100 m 9.81 1st 200 m 19.78 1st 4×100 m relay 37.27 2017 World Championships , United Kingdom 3rd 100 m 9.95 4×100 m relay — Injury 100 m: 2008, 2009, 2013 200 m: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 : 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 : 2009 Manchester GreatCity Games: 2010 (150 m) Ostrava Golden Spike: 2010 (300 m) Athletics in Jamaica Jamaica at the Olympics List of multiple Olympic gold medalists List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games Men's 100 metres world record progression Men's 200 metres world record progression Sport in Berlin This page was last modified on 28 July 2024, at 06:38. Suggest an edit . Sports & Outdoors Individual Sports Sorry, there was a problem. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required . Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. Image Unavailable To view this video download Flash Player Follow the author The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt Paperback – October 1, 2012 Print length 288 pages Language English Publisher Sports Publishing Publication date October 1, 2012 Dimensions 7 x 7 x 9 inches ISBN-10 9781613210673 ISBN-13 978-1613210673 See all details Editorial Reviews About the author, product details. ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1613210671 Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sports Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 2012) Language ‏ : ‎ English Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781613210673 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1613210673 Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 7 x 9 inches #1,260 in Track & Field Sports #1,491 in Olympic Games #6,232 in Running & Jogging (Books) About the author Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more Customer reviews 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 80% 7% 9% 4% 0% 80% 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 80% 7% 9% 4% 0% 7% 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 80% 7% 9% 4% 0% 9% 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 80% 7% 9% 4% 0% 4% 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 80% 7% 9% 4% 0% 0% Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. 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Top reviews from other countries About Amazon Investor Relations Amazon Devices Amazon Science Sell products on Amazon Sell on Amazon Business Sell apps on Amazon Become an Affiliate Advertise Your Products Self-Publish with Us Host an Amazon Hub › See More Make Money with Us Amazon Business Card Shop with Points Reload Your Balance Amazon Currency Converter Amazon and COVID-19 Your Account Your Orders Shipping Rates & Policies Returns & Replacements Manage Your Content and Devices Conditions of Use Privacy Notice Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure Your Ads Privacy Choices 231 IMAGES Usain Bolt Usain Bolt Usain Bolt Usain Bolt Usain Bolt Biography Usain Bolt COMMENTS Usain Bolt Usain Bolt (b. 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter who won gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter races in an unprecedented three straight Olympic Games and is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time. He set numerous world records, notably winning the 100-meter world championship event in 2009 with a time of 9.58 seconds. Usain Bolt: Biography, Olympic Gold Medalist, Fastest Man Alive 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. Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt OJ CD OLY [citation needed] ( / ˈjuːseɪn /; [ 12] born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. [ 13][ 14][ 15] He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay . Usain Bolt Biography Male Athletes. Childhood & Early Life. Usain was born Usain St Leo Bolt on August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, Jamaica, to Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt. He is one of the three children born to the couple. His parents managed to make ends meet by running a shop where mostly groceries were sold. Usain Bolt 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. Usain Bolt Biography Usain Bolt Biography. Usain Bolt is one of the world's most celebrated sportsman with a record-breaking tally of nine gold medals at three consecutive Olympics of 2008, 2012, and 2016. Bolt was gifted ever since he took up sprinting as a junior, but burst onto the World scene with a seemingly effortless dominance of the 100m and 200m final at ... Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive Discover the extraordinary life of Usain Bolt, the legendary sprinter known as the fastest man alive! From his humble beginnings in Jamaica to dominating the... The incredible career of the world's fastest man Usain Bolt, who raked Aug 8, 2017, 9:00 AM PDT. Usain Bolt is still the fastest man in history after setting a world record at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin with a sprint time of 9.58 seconds in the 100-metre ... Usain Bolt Biography, Life & Interesting Facts Revealed Usain St Leo Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, Jamaica, to Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt. He grew up in a family of three children. His parents ran a shop selling groceries to make ends meet. Bolt attended Waldensia Primary, where he showed his talent as a sprinter by winning many 10-meter running contests. Usain Bolt Bolt holds the world record for the 100m in a time of 9.58 seconds. Bolt has competed in 4 Olympic Games, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. Usain Bolt has a 40-yard dash time of 4.22 seconds. This time tied the record for the fastest NFL Combine 40-yard dash. If that isn't impressive enough, he wasn't even ... Usain Bolt: Olympic legend reveals his greatest achievement and ... In his 2013 autobiography "Faster than Lightning," Bolt estimates he ate 1,000 McDonald's chicken nuggets during his 10 days in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics Games. Remarkably, those 5000 ... Usain Bolt: The fastest man ever Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images. Bolt competes in a 200-meter heat at the Beijing Olympics. A few days after winning the 100, Bolt completed the double by setting a new world record in the 200 ... 50 Facts About Usain Bolt He has a net worth of approximately $90 million. Bolt announced his retirement from track and field in 2017, but he continues to make public appearances and participate in charity events. Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica. His full name is Usain St. Leo Bolt. Bolt is a professional sprinter who is widely. 50 Facts About Usain Bolt Fun and Quirky Facts. Bolt's life is full of fun and quirky moments. Here are some light-hearted facts about him. Video Games: Bolt loves playing video games, especially Call of Duty and FIFA.. Favorite Food: His favorite food is Jamaican dumplings and yams.. Height: Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, Bolt is unusually tall for a sprinter.. Speed: Bolt's top speed during his 100 meters world record ... Usain Bolt summary Usain Bolt, (born Aug. 21, 1986, Trelawny parish, Jam.), Jamaican sprinter.An athletics (track and field) prodigy, Bolt won the 200-meter event at the 2002 world junior championships at age 15. In May 2008 he set the 100-meter-dash world record, which he broke the following August while capturing a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games.Bolt won additional Olympic gold medals in the 200 ... Usain Bolt Usain Bolt. (born 1986). Nicknamed "Lightning Bolt," Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt electrified track and field fans around the world by winning gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter races in an unprecedented three consecutive Olympic Games. He is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 ... Before they were superstars: Usain Bolt Usain Bolt has won eight (yes, eight!) Olympic gold medals, including 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also holds the current world records in the 100m (9.58 seconds), 200m (19.19 seconds) and 4 x 100m (36.84 seconds). As a youngster, Bolt showed his immense promise by setting world under-20 and world ... Usain Bolt Bolt does not just make the impossible real; he can make it almost mundane. His time of 9.69 seconds in the 2008 Olympic final once blew minds and reset parameters seemingly forever. Now that time ... Usain Bolt Biography: Track and Field Athlete Usain Bolt is considered by many people to be the greatest sprinter in world history. He is currently (2021) the fastest person (based on the 100m) who ever lived. He holds the world records for both the 100m and 200m. He also shares the 4x100m relay world record with Jamaican teammates Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter, and Michael Frater. Usain Bolt: Hall of Fame Biography, Records, Speed & Facts The Biography of world's fastest man Usain Bolt, read about his sprint records, facts & speed in brief only at Sportsmatik. Support Center ... Usain St Leo Bolt was born in a small town in Trelawney, Jamaica; in a middle-class family of a grocery store owner on 21st August 1986. Usain Bolt Height, Weight, Age, Girlfriend, Family, Facts, Biography 94 kg. Date of Birth. August 21, 1986. Zodiac Sign. Leo. Eye Color. Dark Brown. Usain Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He became a world record holder in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay and is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at ... Usain Bolt Facts for Kids Usain St. Leo Bolt OJ CD OLY (/ ˈ juː s eɪ n /; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.. An eight-time Olympic gold medallist, Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 ... The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt is a thirty-year-old phenomenon. At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won gold in the 100-meter (9.69 seconds), the 200-meter (19.30 seconds), and the 4x100-meter relay (37.10 seconds), becoming the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984. assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis