From Small Town to World Stage

“Manners are the key thing. Say, for instance, when you're growing up, you're walking down the street, you've got to tell everybody good morning. Everybody. You can't pass one person.”

--Usain Bolt

On August 21, 1986, in the small town of Sherwood Content, which is located in the Trelawny section of Jamaica, Usain Bolt came into the world. His father, Wellesley and his mother, Jennifer owned a small grocery store in Sherwood Content. This is where Bolt would learn the value of hard work and of having a sense of pride in whatever you do. Wellesley and Jennifer had their three children, their two sons Usain and Sadiki, and their daughter, Shrine, help them run the small family business.

It was very apparent at an early age that Bolt had an obsession with sports, particularly with cricket, basketball and soccer. He would spend hours outside of the family store in the street, playing these sports with his two siblings. During interviews as an adult, Bolt would be quoted as saying that he “never really thought about anything other than sports.”

His obsession with sports was demonstrated in the way he played them. He would always push himself, and others, to perform at the highest level they could. Even in the athletic field of running, Bolt showed tremendous talents at a young age. When he was an elementary school student at Waldensia Primary and All-age School, he began entering regional races. He would first be recognized for his speed in the annual national primary-school meet, held at his school. By the age of twelve, he was well known throughout the area as one of the fastest runners and soon found himself the fastest runner at his school in the 100 meter race. As history reflects, the world would soon realize the speed that this gifted athlete had stored within himself.

During Bolt’s early years of athletics, he showed a natural talent for the game of cricket, which he still avidly plays to this day. During his first experiences with organized team sports, Bolt had a natural athletic ability in everything he did. His first dream was to become a professional cricketer. His speed during the pitch was remarkable and he was an outstanding bowler. However, due to his tremendous speed, his cricket coach suggested he try out his talents on the track. From that point on, Bolt fell in love with running. He enjoyed the fact that with running, there wasn’t a “point system” that people could argue about. It was simply the clock that was raced against and whatever time it showed, that was the result—no argument needed. The clock showed who had won, and who had lost, plain and simple.

The two track and field coaches at William Knibb Memorial High School, former Olympic sprinting athlete Pablo McNeil and Dwayne Narrett, continued to develop Bolt’s abilities. They instructed him to focus his energy on improving his natural athletic abilities.

William Knibb Memorial High School had a long history of athletic success with prior students. Former Olympic sprinter Michael Green also went to William Knibb Memorial before attending Clemson University on a scholarship. In 2001, when Bolt was fourteen years of age, he would win his first medal, a silver medal, at his school by running in the 200-meter race and posting a time of 22.04 seconds. Soon after that race, Bolt would only have one primary running coach, Pablo McNeil. The two enjoyed working together, even though Pablo would get fairly upset with Bolt’s occasional lack of dedication to his training and the occasional practical joke that he would pull on people. Even though he seemed to not always be serious about his training regimen, Bolt’s size, strength, and naturally-gifted speed kept him moving toward the top for considerations in elite sprinting prospects.

While appearing to be focused on a sprinting career, Bolt still harbored dreams of becoming a professional cricket player. As his sprinting reputation grew, people began mentioning him alongside sprinting greats that had attended the same high school, such as Michael Green. This was a tremendous shock to the people that knew Bolt when he was a small child. Although he did enjoy sports of all types, his main focus had been cricket. One of the first athletes he idolized was the Pakistani cricket star, Waqar Younis. While Bolt was growing up, friends and family naturally assumed that he would one day become a professional cricketer, especially considering his tremendous cricket talents. However, fate would have different plans for Bolt.

Later in 2001, Bolt would win more silver medals at his first Caribbean regional event, the CARIFTA Games. During that event, he would set another personal best in the 400 meters by clocking an impressive 48.28 seconds and yet another personal best in the 200 meters by stopping the clock at 21.81 seconds. Both would garner him silver medals for the events.

His first “world stage” event would take place at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships held in Debrecen, Hungary. Bolt would taste defeat for the first time there by not qualifying for the 200-meter event. Even though he still posted another personal best time of 21.73 seconds, he soon realized that he was no longer the fastest runner on the track.

Always the practical joker and never taking athletics too seriously, Bolt found himself in trouble with not only his coach, but also the police. During the trials for the upcoming 2002 CARIFTA Games, from which he had taken home two silver medals the year before, he hid in the back of a van. A ruckus started due to his disappearance, and he would later be discovered by the police and detained. This practical joke landed his coach, Pablo McNeil, in the center of a public outcry. Claims of McNeil not being able to control his athlete would be heard throughout the community. However, since things like this happen, the community soon quieted and Bolt and McNeil went on to the 2002 CARIFTA Games.

At the 2002 CARIFTA Games, Bolt would make amends for his practical joke faux pas by setting championship records in the 200-meter and 400-meter events. For the 200 meter, he would post a time of 21.12 seconds, and in the 400-meter event, he clocked an impressive 47.33 seconds. He would follow that great performance at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships by posting more records in the 200- and 400-meter events with times of 20.61 seconds and 47.12 seconds, respectively. With the win in the 200-meter event, Bolt became history’s youngest world junior champion in that event. He also took part in a team that set national records in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays. Truly a breakout event for Bolt and the first shining of a bright star in the sprinting world.

Even though he had redeemed himself on the track for his prior practical joke, Bolt would eventually be moved to Kingston. The reason for the move was for training and to have a more watchful eye over his actions by the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association at the University of Technology. This request and action did not come from just anybody. It came directly from former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who had recognized Bolt’s abilities and talents. He not only wanted what was best for the young boy, but what was best for Jamaica. Bolt would have to make arrangements to make the move, along with Jermaine Gonzales.

His appearance at the 2002 World Junior Championships allowed Bolt to prove to the world, and his home crowd of Kingston, Jamaica, that he was the fastest sprinter. He had already grown to a height of 6’5” at the young age of fifteen and stood above the crowd of the same-aged runners. He achieved the title of being the youngest world-junior gold medal winner in history by posting a 200 meter time of 20.61 seconds, which was slower than his personal best 200 meter time of 20.58 seconds. As a member of the Jamaican sprint relay team, he helped his team win two silver medals and set national junior records in the 4 x 100 meter and 4 x 400 meter relays. The running times for the 4 x 100 meter was clocked at 39.15 seconds and a time of 3:04.06 minutes was set for the 4 x 400 meter relay.

The hometown advantage was lost with Bolt during The World Junior Championships. He was so nervous that he put his shoes on the wrong feet, an action that would actually be beneficial to him for future events. After that bout with nerves, Bolt made a solemn vow to never let himself be affected by them prior to an event. This decision is still evident to this day. He always appears to have a calmness prior to a race. That calmness is so deep, many individuals misinterpret it as though he doesn’t care if he wins—an assumption that is quickly dispelled when he crosses the finish line first.

He continued to stun crowds and win gold medals during the 2003 CARIFTA Games. He won four gold medals and was awarded the prestigious Austin Sealy Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding athlete of the games.

The 2003 World Youth Championships would see him set a new championship record in the 200 meter, by stopping the clock at 20.40 seconds against a formidable headwind, and capturing another gold medal. While the showing by Bolt was very impressive, 200 meter world record holder Michael Johnson had concerns for the well-being of the young athlete. He stated that he was concerned that the pressure on Bolt would be too great. He further stated that he recognized Bolt’s potential but that his legacy would be about what he accomplished three, four, or five years into his sprinting career. Michael Johnson was not the only sprinting legend that was impressed with Bolt’s accomplishments. The sprinting elite had taken notice of the young speedster and gave him the IAAF Rising Star Award for the 2002 season.

He acquired even more comparisons to sprinting’s top runners, Michael Johnson and Maurice Green, during the Pan-American Junior Championships. During the lavish event, Bolt would tie a junior world record in the 200-meter race by setting a time of 20.13 seconds, a record set by Roy Martin in 1985. During his final event as a high school student, Bolt set more prep school records in the 200 meter by a half second faster and the 400 meter by finishing a full second faster. These records have not been beaten since.

The 2003 Jamaican High School Championships would be Bolt’s last. He would leave a high mark on the school records by setting new 200 meter and 400 meter records. The times he posted were 20.25 seconds in the 200 meter and 45.30 seconds in the 400 meter. These two records showed Bolt’s true speed at a young age. The previous record for the 200 meters was a half second slower and the 400 meter was almost a full second slower. As of the time of this writing, those records are still firmly set.