Bhubaneswar: Establishing himself as the fastest man in history on numerous occasions, Usain St Leo Bolt, famous as Usain Bolt has been considered as the greatest sprinter of all time.
For those who only follow track and field at the Olympic stage, this may come as a surprise that Bolt has decided not to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the first time since he first went to the 2004 Athens Games.
An eight-time Olympic gold medallist is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016).
Performing for 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.
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.
Usain Bolt’s world records
Usain Bolt currently holds the world records for men’s 100m, 200m sprints and was part of the 4x100m world-record-holding Jamaican quartet that included Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake.
Usain Bolt’s 100m records
Usain Bolt set the current 100m world record at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, clocking an astonishing 9.58 seconds for the feat.
At the record-winning event, Usain Bolt’s average ground speed was 37.58km/h, whilst reaching a top speed of 44.72km/h in the 60-80m stretch – numbers fitting for the world’s fastest man.
The Jamaican first held the 100m world record in 2008 at the Reebok Grand Prix in the Icahn Stadium in New York. He clocked 9.72 seconds to beat fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell’s record of 9.74 seconds set at the IAAF Grand Prix in Rieti, Italy, a year earlier.
Bolt at the Olympics
After a disappointing outing at the Athens 2004 Olympics, Bolt won gold in the 100m and 200m in three consecutive Olympics – Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 – a feat no other sprinter in history has ever achieved.
“You think of the great sprinters of the past who have done things that have never been done before like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and myself. But none of us has produced, in my opinion, the consistency and longevity that Bolt has. So to this point, he has to be considered the greatest,” Michael Johnson once said about Bolt.
The closest comparison, perhaps, will be the legendary Carl Lewis, who won back to back 100m golds at the 1984 and 1988 editions, whilst clinching a gold and silver in the 200m events.
By setting the 100m and 200m world records in Beijing 2008, Bolt became the first sprinter since fellow Jamaican Don Quarrie in 1976 to hold both world records simultaneously.
Bolt had also won the 4x100m gold medals in all three editions but was unfortunately stripped off the Beijing medal in 2017 after teammate Nesta Carter failed a drug test.
The Lighting Bolt may have hung up his sprinting spikes in 2017, but Usain Bolt’s record is set to rule the running tracks around the world for years to come.