9.58s · 8 Olympic Golds · 11 World Titles · 1 Lightning Bolt
Born August 21, 1986 · Sherwood Content, Trelawny, Jamaica
He was 6'5" and they said he was too tall to sprint. He ran 9.58 seconds for the 100 meters and the world record still stands. He celebrated before the finish line in an Olympic final. He made the fastest event in sport look like the most fun anyone has ever had.
Six acts. Fourteen years. Two world records. Three consecutive Olympic triple-golds. The fastest man who ever lived.
They wanted him to play cricket. He wanted to run. He was too tall for sprinting. He didn't care.
Born in Sherwood Content, a small town in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica. His father Wellesley ran a local grocery store. Young Usain played cricket in the streets and showed raw speed chasing friends through the parish. At William Knibb Memorial High School, cricket coach noticed his speed and directed him to track. By 15, he'd won the 200m at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston — becoming the youngest-ever junior world champion at the distance. He ran 19.93 in the 200m at age 17. The coaches said he was too tall at 6'5". His stride length said otherwise.
He slowed down. He looked to his left. He spread his arms. He still broke the world record.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics changed everything. In the 100m final, Bolt broke the world record with 9.69 seconds — and he celebrated the last 20 meters, slowing down with arms spread wide, looking at the crowd instead of the clock. The photograph of him crossing the finish line — arms out, head turned, untied shoe — became the defining image of the Games. Three days later, he ran 19.30 in the 200m, breaking Michael Johnson's "unbreakable" 12-year record. Then gold in the 4x100m relay. Three golds, three records. The world had never seen anything like him.
The fastest 100 meters in human history. The record that may never be broken.
The 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Bolt didn't celebrate early this time. He ran through the line. 9.58 seconds. He'd broken his own world record by 0.11 seconds — an enormous margin in the 100m. Three days later, he ran 19.19 in the 200m. Both records still stand. Scientists estimated that without the Beijing celebration, Bolt could have run 9.55 in 2008. At 9.58, he was moving at 27.8 mph — the fastest any human has ever traveled under their own power. The records he set in Berlin may outlast every other record in athletics.
He did it again. Every event. Every gold. In front of the loudest crowd in Olympic history.
The 2012 London Olympics. Could he do it again? The answer was emphatic. 9.63 in the 100m — an Olympic record. 19.32 in the 200m — an Olympic record. Gold in the 4x100m relay in 36.84 — a world record. He became the first man to defend the Olympic sprint double. The London crowd, 80,000 strong at the Olympic Stadium, gave him the loudest reception any athlete received. He danced, he mugged for cameras, he did the lightning bolt in front of 4 billion TV viewers. He made the fastest event in sport look like the best party on earth.
Three Olympics. Three events. Nine golds. He did what no sprinter had ever done.
The 2016 Rio Olympics. Bolt was 29. Gatlin was the threat. The 100m final came down to the last 30 meters — Bolt pulled away to win in 9.81. The 200m gold came in 19.78. The relay gold gave him nine Olympic golds across three Games. The "triple-triple" — three consecutive Olympic golds in three sprint events — was complete. No one had ever done it. No one may ever do it again. He retired the following year at the 2017 World Championships in London, where a hamstring injury ended his final 4x100m relay.
He tried football. He opened a restaurant. The records still stand. Nobody's getting close.
After retirement, Bolt pursued a brief football career — trialing with the Central Coast Mariners in Australia's A-League in 2018. He scored two goals in a friendly but was not offered a professional contract. He returned to Jamaica, opened the Tracks & Records restaurant chain, launched a mobility scooter company, and became a father to twins Thunder and Saint Leo in 2021 (and daughter Olympia Lightning Bolt, born in 2020). His world records of 9.58 and 19.19 remain untouched. No sprinter has come within 0.10 seconds of either mark. The lightning bolt pose remains the most recognized celebration in sports.
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