Discover what made the future: Usain Bolt

Usain ‘Lightning Bolt’ Bolt is the fastest man ever and considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.

Bolt hails from a small town in Jamaica called Sherwood Content were played mostly cricket and football as a youngster. His parents ran the local grocery store and he was more concerned with fooling around that being a high-performance athlete. He has been a practical joker for much of his career but he realised that his talent would only take him so far and started to train earnestly in his early twenties which formed the basis for his success later.

Bolt became the youngest world-junior gold medalist but was so nervous before this defining race that he put his shoes on the wrong feet. He vowed not to let nerves get the better of him again, which is part of the reason for all his pre-race joking about.

The nickname ‘Lightning Bolt’ was earned after breaking the long-standing 100m and 200m sprint records. His height, at 1.95m, made him stand out from a young age. He won gold medals in his favourite events 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in three consecutive Olympic Games and became the only person to hold both 100m and 200m records. He also made the ‘To Di World’ pose a worldwide phenomenon.

Bolt’s reputation would blow up after setting a world record of 9.69 at the 2008 Olympic Games with a casual jog over the finish line. The following year he would break this record convincingly setting a time of 9.58 seconds, a time that is likely to stand for a long time. There are too many accolades to name but some of the distinct awards include IAAF World Athlete of the Year (3 times), Track & Field Athlete of the Year (3 times) and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (4 times).

Bolt retired in 2017 and co-founded an e-scooter company called Bolt Mobility which can be found in Paris and U.S. During this time he also tried to become a professional footballer but it seems that he overshot slightly on that front.

His average speed is about 38 km/h with a top speed of 47.5km/h – for context – that’s faster than what people drive in the Cape.