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Birthdate/Childhood
Usain St. Leo Bolt was born August 21, 1986, in Trelawny, Jamaica, to Wellesly and Jennifer Bolt. Bolt's parents operated a small grocery store in their village to help aid in Usain's athletic career. Later in his childhood, Bolt was drawn to cricket, where games could last days instead of just a few seconds on the track. -
Representing Jamaica
In 2001, Usain competed in his first major event, representing Jamaica in a Caribbean regional meet called the CARIFTA Games. He ran the 400 meters in a personal-best 48.28 seconds and the 200 meters in 21.81. He finished second in both races. Later that year, Usain appeared in his first true international meet, the IAAF World Youth Championships. He and his teammates traveled to Hungary, where he set a new personal best in the 200 of 21.73 seconds. -
Early Career
At the 2003 World Youth Championships, Usain continued to smash records, including a time of 20.40 seconds in the 200 meters—in the face of a headwind. At the Pan-American Junior Championships, he tied the world junior record of 20.13 in the 200, equaling the mark set by Roy Martin. In his final meet as a high schooler, he shattered the national prep marks for the 200 and 400 by a half-second and second, respectively. -
High School
He continued to play cricket in high school where he attended William Knibb Memorial High School. It was his cricket coach that noticed Bolt's incredible talent of sprinting and encouraged him to run track. Pablo McNeil was his high school coach until Bolt was requested by Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to move to Kingston, a more significant city in Jamaica, to focus strictly on training. In 2004 Bolt graduated High School at the age of eighteen. -
Turning Professional
Under the guidance of new coach Fitz Coleman, Bolt turned professional in 2004, beginning with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda. For the second time in the role, he was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 2004 CARIFTA Games. A hamstring injury in May ruined Bolt's chances of competing in the 2004 World Junior Championships, but he was still chosen for the Jamaican Olympic squad. -
Athens Olympic Games
Bolt failed to advance to the semifinals by .03, something that would make worldwide headlines if it happened today—yes, he was hampered by a hamstring injury, but now, a slowed Bolt is still faster than the rest. The U.S. went on to sweep the 200-meter medals in Athens for the first time in history -
College
All throughout his high school career Bolt received hundreds of full-ride scholarship offers from United States colleges. Bolt declined all offers and attended The University of Technology in his homeland, Jamaica, where he decided that it would be better for his career to be closer to home. That decision gave him an edge over much of his competition because many of them would be training over-seas thousands of miles away from home. -
Beijing Olympic Games
Usain Bolt wins gold in the 100m Olympic track final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Bolt sets new world records in both the 100m (9.69s) and 200m (19.30s) Olympic Track events. Bolt is the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. -
London Olympic Games
Bolt also won three Olympic gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. He ran the men's 100-meter race in 9.63 seconds, a new Olympic record, making him the first man in history to set three world records in Olympic competition. -
Rio Olympic Games
Usain Bolt enhanced his already legendary Olympic status with an unprecedented third consecutive 100m, 200m and 4x100m triple at Rio 2016, a feat that may well never be repeated. The holder of the world records at all three distances and an 11-time world champion, the Jamaican star bid farewell to the Olympic stage by celebrating his 30th birthday on the day of the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Games. -
Retirement
At the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Bolt participated as the anchor runner for Jamaica's 4×100-meter relay team in both the heats and the final. Jamaica won their heat comfortably in 37.95 seconds. In what was intended to be his final race, 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. He refused a wheelchair and crossed the finish line one last time with the assistance of his teammates. -
Soccer Career
Bolt was offered a two-year contract from Maltese club Valletta, which he turned down on 18 October 2018. On 21 October 2018, Bolt was offered a contract by the Mariners. The Australian FA was helping the Mariners to fund it. Later that month, Perth Glory forward Andy Keogh was critical of Bolt's ability.
Bolt left the Mariners in early November 2018 after 8 weeks with the club.
In January 2019, Bolt announced his retirement from football, saying his "sports life was over". -
Works Cited
Works Cited
Baskey-East, Sabrina. “Usain Bolt.” Explora Secondary Schools, Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2014, web.a.ebscohost.com
Cantor, George. Usain Bolt. Lucent Books, 2011.
Thomas, Claire. “Built for Speed: What Makes Usain Bolt so Fast?” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 26 July 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/usain-bolt-worlds-fastest-man
“Usain Bolt.” JockBio: Usain Bolt Biography, Black Book Partners, 2012, www.jockbio.com/Bios/Bolt/Bolt_bio.html.
