Biography of Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt is a world-famous Jamaican athlete. He has set the world records for the fastest time over distances of 100 m and 200 m, en route to 6 Olympic and 5 World Championship gold medals. Here's a look into this Jamaican sprinter's life and achievements.
Bolt is in his home stretch. It's gonna be close ... Bolt, Blake, Gatlin and Gay battling it out, and BOLT! It's official, Usain Bolt is the fastest man on Earth! Take your hats off everybody, for the 2012 London Olympic 100-meter champion, Usain Bolt!
All of us must have heard some variation of this piece of commentary as the legendary Jamaican ran through to his 4th Olympic gold medal. Replace Gatlin and Gay with Weir and Spearmon, and it's exactly the same for the 200 m, his fifth Olympic gold. The contenders may change, but there's no stopping Usain Bolt. With his unprecedented 200 m victory, followed up by a world-record run in the 4x100 m relay by the Jamaican team, Bolt won his place among the very greatest exponents of athletics, if not the golden throne in that revered pantheon. In the week of Jamaica's 50th Independence Day, Usain Bolt gave his country one of the best gifts, fittingly won in England, Jamaica's rulers pre-August 6, 1962. It was a run of a champion, it was the run of a record-breaker, it was the run of a history-maker. Just another day in the office for Usain Bolt.
Personal Details
Name: Usain Bolt
Nicknames: Lightning Bolt, Bolt from the Blue
Nationality: Jamaican
Born: August 21, 1986
Place of Birth: Sherwood Content
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 210 lbs
Sports: 100 m, 200 m, 4x100 m relay
Nicknames: Lightning Bolt, Bolt from the Blue
Nationality: Jamaican
Born: August 21, 1986
Place of Birth: Sherwood Content
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 210 lbs
Sports: 100 m, 200 m, 4x100 m relay
Flying Jamaican:
At full speed, Usain Bolt's feet only touch the ground for 0.05 seconds per step. With a stride of 2.4 meters at full speed, Bolt needs about 41 steps to cross 100 m and 82 to cross 200. This means that his feet touch the ground for 2.05 and 4.10 seconds in the 100 m and the 200 m, respectively.
Professional Career
Usain Bolt became a professional athlete in 2004 under the guidance of his new coach Fitz Coleman. He started with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda, where he was the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in less than 20 seconds and broke the world junior record, previously held by Roy Martin. Bolt lost the opportunity to compete in the 2004 World Junior Championships due to a hamstring injury. However, he was selected for the Jamaican Olympic Squad, but was eliminated in the first round of the 200 meters due to a leg injury.
In 2005, Bolt got a fresh start under the guidance of his new coach Glen Mills. He scored the season's best finish of 19.99 seconds for the 200 meters at the London's Crystal Palace in July, the same year. Bolt reached the top 5 on the world rankings in 2005 and 2006. He set his new personal best at the 2006 Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, setting the record time of 19.88 seconds. Bolt got his first major world medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany. He won a bronze medal by finishing in a time of 20.10 seconds. He achieved his first senior international silver medal in the IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece. In 2007, he finished the 200 m in 19.75 seconds at the Jamaican Championships and broke the record of Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. He won silver medals in the 200 m and 4x100 m relay at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. On May 31, 2008, Bolt established a new world record at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. He ran the 100 m event in 9.72 seconds and broke an earlier record of 9.74 seconds set by Powell.
After winning the 100 m, the 200 m and, along with his Jamaica teammates, the 4x100 m relay, all in world-record times, Usain Bolt scaled unprecedented heights in the 2009 Berlin World Championships, making a new 100 m world record of 9.58 seconds. He also broke his own 200 m record made in 2008 by 0.11 seconds, this time bringing it down to 19.19 s. Due to his remarkable performance, he was also honored as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Although he couldn't make any new world records in 2010, Bolt comfortably won the 2010 IAAF Diamond League. Bolt wanted to break the 300 m record set by Michael Johnson in the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, but he couldn't do so due to an injury in his Achilles tendon. After the recovery from the injury, which took a month, he came back to the track field and comfortably won the 100 m at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne. He also defeated Asafa Powell in Paris at the Meeting Areva. However, he lost the race to Tyson Gay at the 100 m finals at the DN Galan. The year 2011 was a mixture again. In the 2011 Daegu World Championships, Bolt was disqualified in the 100 meters finals because of a false start. He won the 200 meters in 19.40 s. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meters relay, setting the world record of 37.04 s, along with teammates Yohan Blake, Michael Frater, and Nesta Carter.
In the months leading up to the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt was widely criticized for supposedly not taking the competition seriously. After being pipped to the top spot at the Jamaican trials by Yohan Blake, there was widespread doubt over Bolt's ability to defend his 2008 titles. However, Bolt later said that losing to Blake was a wake-up call just before the Olympics and it helped him 'get his head in the game'. At the London Olympics, Bolt made history by becoming the first athlete to defend both the 100 m and 200 m Olympic titles, in addition to the 4x100 m relay, as part of the Jamaican team. The closest anyone had ever come to that achievement was Carl Lewis, who won the 100 m and the 200 m in the 1984 Olympics, and the 100 m in 1988.
In 2005, Bolt got a fresh start under the guidance of his new coach Glen Mills. He scored the season's best finish of 19.99 seconds for the 200 meters at the London's Crystal Palace in July, the same year. Bolt reached the top 5 on the world rankings in 2005 and 2006. He set his new personal best at the 2006 Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, setting the record time of 19.88 seconds. Bolt got his first major world medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany. He won a bronze medal by finishing in a time of 20.10 seconds. He achieved his first senior international silver medal in the IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece. In 2007, he finished the 200 m in 19.75 seconds at the Jamaican Championships and broke the record of Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. He won silver medals in the 200 m and 4x100 m relay at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. On May 31, 2008, Bolt established a new world record at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. He ran the 100 m event in 9.72 seconds and broke an earlier record of 9.74 seconds set by Powell.
After winning the 100 m, the 200 m and, along with his Jamaica teammates, the 4x100 m relay, all in world-record times, Usain Bolt scaled unprecedented heights in the 2009 Berlin World Championships, making a new 100 m world record of 9.58 seconds. He also broke his own 200 m record made in 2008 by 0.11 seconds, this time bringing it down to 19.19 s. Due to his remarkable performance, he was also honored as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Although he couldn't make any new world records in 2010, Bolt comfortably won the 2010 IAAF Diamond League. Bolt wanted to break the 300 m record set by Michael Johnson in the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, but he couldn't do so due to an injury in his Achilles tendon. After the recovery from the injury, which took a month, he came back to the track field and comfortably won the 100 m at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne. He also defeated Asafa Powell in Paris at the Meeting Areva. However, he lost the race to Tyson Gay at the 100 m finals at the DN Galan. The year 2011 was a mixture again. In the 2011 Daegu World Championships, Bolt was disqualified in the 100 meters finals because of a false start. He won the 200 meters in 19.40 s. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meters relay, setting the world record of 37.04 s, along with teammates Yohan Blake, Michael Frater, and Nesta Carter.
In the months leading up to the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt was widely criticized for supposedly not taking the competition seriously. After being pipped to the top spot at the Jamaican trials by Yohan Blake, there was widespread doubt over Bolt's ability to defend his 2008 titles. However, Bolt later said that losing to Blake was a wake-up call just before the Olympics and it helped him 'get his head in the game'. At the London Olympics, Bolt made history by becoming the first athlete to defend both the 100 m and 200 m Olympic titles, in addition to the 4x100 m relay, as part of the Jamaican team. The closest anyone had ever come to that achievement was Carl Lewis, who won the 100 m and the 200 m in the 1984 Olympics, and the 100 m in 1988.
Medal Haul
Event Discipline
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 100 m
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 200 m
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 4x100 m relay
2011 Daegu World Championships (Gold) 200 m
2011 Daegu World Championships (Gold) 4×100 m relay
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 100 m
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 200 m
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 4×100 m relay
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 100 m
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 200 m
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 4 x 100 m relay
2007 Osaka World Championship (Silver) 200 m
2007 Osaka World Championship (Silver) 4 x 100 m relay
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 100 m
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 200 m
2012 London Olympics (Gold) 4x100 m relay
2011 Daegu World Championships (Gold) 200 m
2011 Daegu World Championships (Gold) 4×100 m relay
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 100 m
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 200 m
2009 Berlin World Championships (Gold) 4×100 m relay
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 100 m
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 200 m
2008 Olympics Beijing (Gold) 4 x 100 m relay
2007 Osaka World Championship (Silver) 200 m
2007 Osaka World Championship (Silver) 4 x 100 m relay
Bolt is well-known for his frank, candid interviews as well as his speed records. After winning the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics 100 m (a race in which 7 of 8 contestants ran under 10 seconds) amidst widespread doubts about his fitness and attitude, he said of his critics, "All they can do is talk. I said it on the track". In the same Olympics, he won the 200 m gold and then declared that he "is now a legend", a claim refutable by few.
He is sometimes criticized for his laid-back attitude, especially for slowing down in the last moments of a race to celebrate, and practical jokes (he once hid in a van before the 200 m final), but who cares? He still continues to marvel us all with his magnificent speed and performance. He will undoubtedly continue with the same magnificent performance in the upcoming competitions. He is
undoubtedly the fastest man on earth, but if you think you have seen enough, wait, because more surprises and more records are coming your way from the "Lightning Bolt"!
He is sometimes criticized for his laid-back attitude, especially for slowing down in the last moments of a race to celebrate, and practical jokes (he once hid in a van before the 200 m final), but who cares? He still continues to marvel us all with his magnificent speed and performance. He will undoubtedly continue with the same magnificent performance in the upcoming competitions. He is
undoubtedly the fastest man on earth, but if you think you have seen enough, wait, because more surprises and more records are coming your way from the "Lightning Bolt"!
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