Usain Bolt - a human marvel and World Champion Athlete
Usain Bolt inspires my deepest admiration and respect as a human being and a man. He exemplifies courage, strength, conviction, commitment and determination as well as success against all odds. I admire his character, drive and tenacity.
Usain Bolt is apparently too tall to be a runner albeit a world champion athlete. He suffers from Scoliosis. He came from nothing. He worked hard. He suffered and fought for his belief in himself and to succeed. He committed to being victorious and beating all the odds to do what he wanted, defying his physical limitations to be the best that he could be and victorious at the penultimate level of success in his chosen fields.
Usain Bolt focused and continues to focus on what he wants and what he can do rather than be limited by what he can't do or by what others tell him that he cannot do in life. He's my kind of man. Usain Bolt would have succeeded in whatever he chose to do in life and as such makes it as one of my Heroes.
I hope that you find him as inspiring and marvelous as do I.
http://usainbolt.com/bio/
Biography
Arguably the most naturally gifted
athlete the world has ever seen, Usain St Leo Bolt, created history at
the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he achieved the ‘Triple Triple’,
three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. Usain’s journey
to worldwide stardom started at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where
he won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, all in world record times. He
followed this up with three gold medals in the same events at the 2012
Olympic Games in London to write his name in the history books as the
world’s fastest man. Then one day before his 30th birthday he completed
the same triple at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio to cement his legacy
as a legend in world sport.
In addition to his nine Olympic Games gold medals Usain won
eleven World T&F Championships titles. He completed the 100m, 200m
and 4x100m sweeps at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, 2013 World
Championships in Moscow and 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He won
the 200m and 4x100m at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011.
Usain currently holds the world records in the 100m, 200m and
4x100m with times of 9.58 secs, 19.19 secs and 36.84 secs. His first
world record was in the 100m in 2008 when he posted a time of 9.72 secs
in New York. He lowered it to 9.69 secs at the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing and then to 9.58 secs at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
He holds the three fastest times ever run 9.58, 9.64 and 9.69. Also
in 2008 in Beijing, he set a new 200m world record taking 0.02 off
Michael Johnson’s previous mark with a time of 19.30 secs. He lowered
this time further to 19.19 secs in Berlin in 2009, a time which may
stand for years to come. On the world all-time list Usain holds five of
the top ten times ever in the 200m. As part of the Jamaican 4x100m
team Usain broke three world records – 37.10 secs in Beijing in 2008,
37.04 secs in Daegu in 2011 and 36.84 in London in 2012. Jamaican teams
with Usain have the seven fastest 4x100m times in history.
While the world celebrates this precocious talent, this was a dream waiting to happen and not just an overnight sensation.
As early as age 14, young Usain was opening eyes with his
lightning speed from regional championships in western Jamaica to
national meets set in Kingston to meets in the wider Caribbean.
Usain’s ascent to the pinnacle of world sprinting started with
the most unlikely of events as his first medal at any meet came in the
80 hurdles in Class Three at Western Champs held on the campus of his
Alma Mater William Knibb Memorial High in Martha Brae, Trelawny when he
‘jumped’ his way to a bronze medal.
Because he towered above his peers even then, Bolt was also
entered in the high jump event and was a promising fast bowler in
cricket before been encouraged to channel his energies on the track.
By 2001 Bolt became a known commodity and he sent signals that
he would be a world beater in early 2002 when he cruised to a hand timed
20.3 seconds to win the 200m at Western Champs finals at Catherine
Hall.
Later that year he went on to win the 200m/400m double at
CARIFTA Trials before winning four gold medals at the meet held in
Nassau, Bahamas.
He announced his arrival to the wider global audience in July
2002 when at the IAAF World Junior T&F Championships in Kingston in
front of the biggest crowd ever to watch this meet, he won the host
nation’s only individual gold medal, winning the 200m in 20.61 seconds.
He left that meet with three medals including two silver medals in the
4x100m and 4x400m relays.
That was the start of a meteoric climb to the top that also saw him winning two IAAF Rising Star awards.
It was not always smooth sailing however as injuries slowed him down at several junctures of his career.
Soon after breaking the Word Junior Record in the 200m with a
time of 19.93 seconds at the CARIFTA Games in Hamilton, Bermuda in 2004,
Bolt was slowed by a troublesome hamstring injury. He qualified for
the final of the 200m at the 2005 IAAF World T&F Championships in
Helsinki, Finland but in cold and wet weather pulled up before the
finish holding his hamstring.
He missed what turned out to be a ‘Jamaican party’ at the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006 when he suffered another
hamstring injury while running a leg of the 4x400m relay for the IAAF
High performance Centre’s team at the Gibson Relays in Kingston.
Jamaican athletes swept all the sprint events at the meet, despite his
absence.
Fortunately, he recovered well enough later that year to set a
personal best of 19.88 secs in the 200m and place second in the 200m at
the IAAF World Cup of Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany.
2007 was the breakthrough year in that he broke the 30 year old
Jamaican 200m Record, held by the great Donald Quarrie, with a time of
19.75 secs to win the Jamaican Senior T&F Championships. He went to
the 2007 IAAF World T&F Championships in Osaka, Japan in good form
and won two silver medals in the 200m and 4x 100m relay.
2008 was Usain’s breakout year when he rewrote the history
books and became one of the biggest sports stats on the planet. Since
then he has gone from strength to strength with his heroic achievements
in the Olympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio and in the IAAF World
T&F Championships in Berlin, Daegu, Moscow & Beijing.
Usain has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2013 & 2017); the IAAF Male Athlete
of the Year six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) as well as
many awards in many countries in all corners of the world. He has a
clothing line with Puma; a range of signature watches with Hublot; a
restaurant chain called ‘Tracks & Records’; an Urban Mobility
company ‘BOLT’, a shaving company Champion Shave, an insole company
Enertor; the ‘Usain Bolt Foundation’ and he is am ambassador for some of
the top brands in the world.
In addition to his nine Olympic Games gold medals Usain won
eleven World T&F Championships titles. He completed the 100m, 200m
and 4x100m sweeps at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, 2013 World
Championships in Moscow and 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He won
the 200m and 4x100m at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011.
Usain currently holds the world records in the 100m, 200m and
4x100m with times of 9.58 secs, 19.19 secs and 36.84 secs. His first
world record was in the 100m in 2008 when he posted a time of 9.72 secs
in New York. He lowered it to 9.69 secs at the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing and then to 9.58 secs at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
He holds the three fastest times ever run 9.58, 9.64 and 9.69. Also
in 2008 in Beijing, he set a new 200m world record taking 0.02 off
Michael Johnson’s previous mark with a time of 19.30 secs. He lowered
this time further to 19.19 secs in Berlin in 2009, a time which may
stand for years to come. On the world all-time list Usain holds five of
the top ten times ever in the 200m. As part of the Jamaican 4x100m
team Usain broke three world records – 37.10 secs in Beijing in 2008,
37.04 secs in Daegu in 2011 and 36.84 in London in 2012. Jamaican teams
with Usain have the seven fastest 4x100m times in history.
While the world celebrates this precocious talent, this was a dream waiting to happen and not just an overnight sensation.
As early as age 14, young Usain was opening eyes with his
lightning speed from regional championships in western Jamaica to
national meets set in Kingston to meets in the wider Caribbean.
Usain’s ascent to the pinnacle of world sprinting started with
the most unlikely of events as his first medal at any meet came in the
80 hurdles in Class Three at Western Champs held on the campus of his
Alma Mater William Knibb Memorial High in Martha Brae, Trelawny when he
‘jumped’ his way to a bronze medal.
Because he towered above his peers even then, Bolt was also
entered in the high jump event and was a promising fast bowler in
cricket before been encouraged to channel his energies on the track.
By 2001 Bolt became a known commodity and he sent signals that
he would be a world beater in early 2002 when he cruised to a hand timed
20.3 seconds to win the 200m at Western Champs finals at Catherine
Hall.
Later that year he went on to win the 200m/400m double at
CARIFTA Trials before winning four gold medals at the meet held in
Nassau, Bahamas.
He announced his arrival to the wider global audience in July
2002 when at the IAAF World Junior T&F Championships in Kingston in
front of the biggest crowd ever to watch this meet, he won the host
nation’s only individual gold medal, winning the 200m in 20.61 seconds.
He left that meet with three medals including two silver medals in the
4x100m and 4x400m relays.
That was the start of a meteoric climb to the top that also saw him winning two IAAF Rising Star awards.
It was not always smooth sailing however as injuries slowed him down at several junctures of his career.
Soon after breaking the Word Junior Record in the 200m with a
time of 19.93 seconds at the CARIFTA Games in Hamilton, Bermuda in 2004,
Bolt was slowed by a troublesome hamstring injury. He qualified for
the final of the 200m at the 2005 IAAF World T&F Championships in
Helsinki, Finland but in cold and wet weather pulled up before the
finish holding his hamstring.
He missed what turned out to be a ‘Jamaican party’ at the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006 when he suffered another
hamstring injury while running a leg of the 4x400m relay for the IAAF
High performance Centre’s team at the Gibson Relays in Kingston.
Jamaican athletes swept all the sprint events at the meet, despite his
absence.
Fortunately, he recovered well enough later that year to set a
personal best of 19.88 secs in the 200m and place second in the 200m at
the IAAF World Cup of Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany.
2007 was the breakthrough year in that he broke the 30 year old
Jamaican 200m Record, held by the great Donald Quarrie, with a time of
19.75 secs to win the Jamaican Senior T&F Championships. He went to
the 2007 IAAF World T&F Championships in Osaka, Japan in good form
and won two silver medals in the 200m and 4x 100m relay.
2008 was Usain’s breakout year when he rewrote the history
books and became one of the biggest sports stats on the planet. Since
then he has gone from strength to strength with his heroic achievements
in the Olympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio and in the IAAF World
T&F Championships in Berlin, Daegu, Moscow & Beijing.
Usain has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2013 & 2017); the IAAF Male Athlete
of the Year six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) as well as
many awards in many countries in all corners of the world. He has a
clothing line with Puma; a range of signature watches with Hublot; a
restaurant chain called ‘Tracks & Records’; an Urban Mobility
company ‘BOLT’, a shaving company Champion Shave, an insole company
Enertor; the ‘Usain Bolt Foundation’ and he is am ambassador for some of
the top brands in the world.
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