Usain St Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.
140 Facts About Usain Bolt
2.
Usain Bolt 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.
3.
Usain Bolt is the most successful male athlete of the World Championships.
4.
Usain Bolt has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009.
5.
Usain Bolt was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2016.
6.
Usain Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 to parents Wellesley and Jennifer Usain Bolt in Sherwood Content, a small town in Jamaica.
7.
Usain Bolt has a brother, Sadiki, and a sister, Sherine.
8.
Usain Bolt developed an affection for European football teams Real Madrid and Manchester United.
9.
Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete, and Dwayne Jarrett coached Usain Bolt, encouraging him to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities.
10.
Usain 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.
11.
When Usain Bolt was a boy, he attended Sherwood Content Seventh-day Adventist Church in Trelawny, Jamaica, with his mother.
12.
Usain Bolt's mother did not serve pork to him in accordance with Adventist beliefs.
13.
Usain Bolt made his first appearance on the world stage at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
14.
Usain Bolt was detained by the police for his practical joke, and there was an outcry from the local community, which blamed coach McNeil for the incident.
15.
However, the controversy subsided, and both McNeil and Usain Bolt went to the CARIFTA Games, where Usain Bolt set championship records in the 200 m and 400 m with times of 21.12 s and 47.33 s, respectively.
16.
Usain Bolt continued to set records with 20.61 s and 47.12 s finishes at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships.
17.
Usain Bolt is one of only nine athletes to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.
18.
The 2002 World Junior Championships were held in front of a home crowd in Kingston, Jamaica, and Usain Bolt was given a chance to prove his credentials on a world stage.
19.
Usain Bolt 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.
20.
Usain Bolt won another gold at the 2003 World Youth Championships.
21.
Usain Bolt had impressed the athletics hierarchy, and he received the IAAF Rising Star Award for 2002.
22.
Usain Bolt competed in his final Jamaican High School Championships in 2003.
23.
Usain Bolt broke the 200 m and 400 m records with times of 20.25 s and 45.35 s, respectively.
24.
Usain 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.
25.
Usain Bolt improved upon the 200 m time three months later, setting the former World youth best at the 2003 Pan American Junior Championships.
26.
Usain 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.
27.
Indeed, at sixteen years old, Usain Bolt had reached times that Johnson did not register until he was twenty, and Usain Bolt's 200 m time was superior to Maurice Greene's season's best that year.
28.
Usain Bolt was increasingly unfocused on his athletic career and preferred to eat fast food, play basketball, and party in Kingston's club scene.
29.
Usain Bolt beat all comers at the 200 m in the World Championship trials.
30.
Usain 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.
31.
Under the guidance of new coach Fitz Coleman, Usain Bolt turned professional in 2004, beginning with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda.
32.
Usain Bolt 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.
33.
Usain Bolt headed to the 2004 Athens Olympics with confidence and a new record on his side.
34.
Usain 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.
35.
Usain Bolt began training with Mills in preparation for the upcoming athletics season, partnering with more seasoned sprinters such as Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers.
36.
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.
37.
Usain Bolt had continued to improve his performances, and he reached the world top-5 rankings in 2005 and 2006.
38.
Peart and Mills stated their intentions to push Usain Bolt to do longer sprinting distances with the aim of making the 400 m event his primary event by 2007 or 2008.
39.
Usain Bolt was less enthusiastic, and demanded that he feel comfortable in his sprinting.
40.
Usain Bolt 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.
41.
Usain 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.
42.
Usain Bolt had focused his athletics aims, stating that 2006 was a year to gain experience.
43.
Usain Bolt claimed his first major world medal two months later at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany.
44.
Usain Bolt passed the finishing post with a time of 20.10 s, gaining a bronze medal in the process.
45.
Usain Bolt yearned to run in the 100 metres but Mills was skeptical, believing that Bolt was better suited for middle distances.
46.
Usain Bolt built on this achievement at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, winning a silver medal.
47.
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.
48.
Usain Bolt continued to develop in the 100 m, and he decided to compete in the event at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston.
49.
Michael Johnson observed the race and said that he was shocked at how quickly Usain Bolt had improved over the 100 m distance.
50.
In June 2008, Usain Bolt responded to claims that he was a lazy athlete, saying that the comments were unjustified, and he trained hard to achieve his potential.
51.
Usain 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.
52.
Usain 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.
53.
Olympic medallist Kriss Akabusi construed Usain Bolt's chest slapping before the finish line as showboating, noting that the actions cost Usain Bolt an even faster record time.
54.
Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, supported Usain Bolt and said that his celebration was appropriate given the circumstances of his victory.
55.
Usain 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.
56.
Usain Bolt eased through the first and second rounds of the 200 m, jogging towards the end of his run both times.
57.
Usain Bolt won his semi-final and progressed to the final as the favourite to win.
58.
Furthermore, Usain Bolt became the first sprinter to break both records at the same Olympics.
59.
Unlike in the 100 m final, Usain Bolt sprinted hard all the way to the finishing line in the 200 m race, even dipping his chest to improve his time.
60.
Powell, who anchored the team to the finishing line, lamented the loss of his 100m record to Usain Bolt but showed no animosity towards his Jamaican rival, stating that he was delighted to help him set his third world record.
61.
Usain 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.
62.
Usain Bolt stated that he had been tested four times prior to the Olympics, and all had tested negative for banned substances.
63.
Usain Bolt welcomed anti-doping authorities to test him to prove that he was clean, stating, "We work hard and we perform well and we know we're clean".
64.
Usain 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.
65.
At the Super Grand Prix final in Lausanne, Usain Bolt ran his second-fastest 200 m with a time of 19.63 s, equalling Xavier Carter's track record.
66.
On his return to Jamaica, Usain Bolt was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an Order of Distinction in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics.
67.
Additionally, Usain 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.
68.
Usain 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.
69.
Usain Bolt eased through the 100-m heats, clocking the fastest ever pre-final performance of 9.89 seconds.
70.
Usain 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.
71.
Usain Bolt broke his own record by 0.11 seconds, finishing with a time of 19.19 seconds.
72.
Usain Bolt 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.
73.
Usain 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 and 200 m were significantly faster than those he had produced in his world record runs at the Beijing Olympics.
74.
Several days after Usain Bolt broke the world records in 100 and 200 metres events, Mike Powell, the world record holder in long jump argued that Usain Bolt could become the first man to jump over 9 metres, the long jump event being "a perfect fit for his speed and height".
75.
Early on in the 2010 outdoor season, Usain 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.
76.
Usain Bolt 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.
77.
Usain 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.
78.
Usain Bolt 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.
79.
Usain 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.
80.
Usain Bolt celebrated by imitating the "Mobot" celebration of Mo Farah, who had claimed a long-distance track double for the host nation.
81.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge initially stated that Usain 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.
82.
Usain Bolt was served an unexpected defeat by Justin Gatlin, with the American winning 9.94 to Bolt's 9.95.
83.
Usain 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 Usain Bolt but it's an honour".
84.
Usain Bolt regained the title as world's fastest man by winning the World Championships 100 metres in Moscow.
85.
Usain 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.
86.
Not in peak form Usain Bolt said that he was attending the Games for the fans and to show his progress since the injury.
87.
Usain Bolt entered the World Championships to defend his sprint titles but was not the comfortable favourite he had been since 2008.
88.
However, Gatlin did not match that form in the final while Usain Bolt improved through the rounds.
89.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Usain Bolt won the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.81 seconds.
90.
Usain Bolt followed up his 100 m win with a gold medal in the 200 m, which makes him the first athlete to win the 200 m three times at the Olympic Games.
91.
Usain Bolt performed at the inaugural meet in February 2017 and led his team to victory.
92.
At the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Usain 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.
93.
In what was intended to be his final race, Usain 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.
94.
Usain Bolt expresses a love for dancing and his character is frequently described as laid-back and relaxed.
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Usain Bolt has the nickname "Lightning Usain Bolt" due to his name and speed.
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Usain Bolt is Catholic and known for making the sign of the cross before racing competitively, and he wears a Miraculous Medal during his races.
97.
In 2010, Usain Bolt revealed his fondness of music, when he played a reggae DJ set to a crowd in Paris.
98.
In 2021, Usain Bolt told the BBC that his love for video games, such as Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat, helped him during his Olympic career.
99.
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.
100.
Usain Bolt is a fan of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, West Indian opener Chris Gayle, and Australian opener Matthew Hayden.
101.
Usain Bolt stated that he enjoyed the Twenty20 version of the game, admiring the aggressive and constant nature of the batting.
102.
Usain Bolt is a fan of Premier League football team Manchester United.
103.
Usain Bolt has declared he is a fan of Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
104.
Usain 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.
105.
In 2013, Usain Bolt played basketball in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game.
106.
Usain Bolt scored two points from a slam dunk but acknowledged his other basketball skills were lacking.
107.
Usain Bolt wore the number "9.58" in allusion to his 100 m world record.
108.
Usain Bolt wore the same number whilst captaining the World XI during Soccer Aid 2018 at Old Trafford.
109.
On 21 August 2018, on his 32nd birthday, Usain Bolt started training with Australian club Central Coast Mariners of the A-League.
110.
Usain Bolt 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.
111.
Usain Bolt was offered a two-year contract from Maltese club Valletta, which he turned down on 18 October 2018.
112.
On 21 October 2018, Usain Bolt was offered a contract by the Mariners.
113.
Usain Bolt left the Mariners in early November 2018 after 8 weeks with the club.
114.
Usain Bolt felt certain that even at 34 and being retired he would comfortably be the fastest player in the league.
115.
On 24 August 2020, Usain Bolt tested positive for COVID-19 and subsequently went into self-isolation in his home.
116.
Almost single-handedly, Usain Bolt has helped track transform itself from a dying sport to one with a singular, smiling, worldwide star.
117.
In September 2010, Usain Bolt travelled to Australia where his sponsor Gatorade was holding an event called the "Gatorade Usain Bolt" to find Australia's fastest footballer.
118.
In January 2012, Usain Bolt impersonated Richard Branson in an advertising campaign for Virgin Media.
119.
In March 2012, Usain Bolt starred in an advert for Visa and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
120.
In 2012, Usain Bolt collaborated with headphone maker Soul Electronics to design his own line of headphones.
121.
Usain Bolt designed both an in-ear bud and over-ear model with the Jamaican color scheme and his signature "To Di World" pose.
122.
In 2017, Usain Bolt had the third highest earning social media income for sponsors among sportspeople, and he was the only non-footballer in the top seven.
123.
Usain Bolt is the highest paid athlete in the history of the sport.
124.
In 2016, Usain 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.
125.
Usain Bolt co-founded electric scooter company Bolt Mobility in 2018, created in his namesake.
126.
Usain Bolt founded the micromobility company, which provides electric scooters and other yet-to-be released mobility devices, such as the company's upcoming Usain Bolt Nano.
127.
Usain Bolt appeared in Usain Bolt Mobility's debut commercial, released through YouTube and his official Facebook account.
128.
Usain Bolt appeared in a number of interviews for the company, alongside CEO Sarah Pishevar Haynes.
129.
Usain 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.
130.
In May 2019, Usain Bolt spoke in Paris at the Viva Technology conference, where he introduced the company's future release of the Nano minicar.
131.
Usain Bolt met with French president Emmanuel Macron while at the conference.
132.
Usain Bolt argues that his scooter is different, which allows bag, shopping and mobile phone storage.
133.
Usain Bolt has begun operations in a number of US cities, and plans to expand throughout Europe and Asia.
134.
In early January 2021, Usain Bolt released a single titled "Living the Dream" with his childhood friend and manager Nugent 'NJ' Walker.
135.
Usain Bolt made a cameo appearance in the opening sketch of 13 October 2012 broadcast of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Christina Applegate.
136.
In November 2016, Usain Bolt competed against James Corden in a rap battle on the "Drop the Mic" segment of The Late Late Show with James Corden, which he won.
137.
Usain Bolt holds the second fastest time of 9.63 seconds, the current Olympic record, and set two previous world records in the event.
138.
Usain Bolt holds the 200 metres world teenage best results for the age categories 15,16,17 and 18.
139.
Usain Bolt 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.
140.
Usain 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.