“For me, I'm focused on what I want to do. I know what I need to do to be a champion, so I'm working on it.”
--Usain Bolt
While his tremendous speed likened him to great sprinters like Maurice Green and Michael Johnson, Bolt’s off the track antics left something to be desired. Michael Johnson had expressed concerns about the young track star’s focus for quite some time. Although the move to Kingston had great impact on his track times, the big city’s nightlife offered Bolt temptations that he couldn’t seem to avoid. His coaches were constantly bombarded with questions about Bolt. From catching him gorging himself on fast food and playing in a pick-up game of basketball, to the partying at the local night clubs, Bolt’s name was becoming a regular feature in the local papers.
With his popularity growing in his country of Jamaica, the Jamaican Government appointed Howard Hamilton as Public Defender. He urged the JAAA to help out and teach Bolt in a soft fashion so burnout wouldn’t crumble the gifted athlete. Mr. Hamilton publicly stated that Bolt was the most phenomenal sprinter that Jamaica had ever produced. Mr. Hamilton wanted Bolt to stop succumbing to the city’s nightlife attractions and begin focusing more on his running talents.
Returning as the reigning champion of the 200 meter event at the World Youth and World Junior Championships, Bolt wanted to take the 200 meters at the Senior World Championships, which were located in Paris.
At the 200 meter World Championship trials, Bolt defeated all that ran against him. Even with those victories on his side, he still doubted his chances on making it to the finals. He stated that he would consider a new personal record as a victory, even if he didn’t make the finals. However, with a bout of conjunctivitis hitting him, his training schedule would be destroyed. The JAAA realized that he would not be in peak physical condition due to the lack of training, so they would not let him participate in the finals. The JAAA stated that they would not allow him in the event based on grounds that Bolt was too young and he didn’t have the experience to participate.
Bolt was shocked at missing the event. He made a solemn vow to himself to get back in peak physical condition and gain a spot on the 2004 Jamaican Olympic team and a trip to Athens for the Olympic Games. Even while missing the World Championships, Bolt would once again be awarded the IAAF Rising Star Award for the 2003 season due to the strength of his junior- record-equaling run.
At the age of seventeen and still technically considered a junior, Bolt would declare himself a professional in 2004. He made this announcement shortly before the CARIFTA Games that were held in Bermuda. In spite of his hamstring flaring up, he secured himself a spot on the 2004 Jamaican Olympic team by running the 200 meter event in under 20 seconds. However, he was eliminated in the first round of the 200 meter event at the Olympics in Athens by not breaking the 21 second mark.
While still training at the University of Technology facility, he changed coaches. No longer would Fitz Coleman be coaching him. Glen Mills stepped in and took over Bolt’s coaching along with his manager Norman Peart. Together, they would begin molding Bolt into a true champion. Bolt still felt the sting of losing at the Olympics and would take noticeable strides toward focusing on his running abilities. Some may say that the Olympic defeat was extremely beneficial to Bolt for his overall career. He never wanted to feel defeat again and took his training very seriously from that point forward.
While working out with accomplished sprinters Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers, he saw a level of professionalism in them that was contagious. He began acting more like a professional runner and gained tremendous insight into the mind of a champion. This was something that Bolt wanted, so he began presenting himself that way and studying his craft.
The 2004 season began extremely well for the young sprinting professional. He posted a time of 20.03 seconds in the 200 meter event at the CAC Championship, breaking another record. He would go on to London and run a season-best in the 200 meter by posting a time of just 19.99 seconds.
Hopes were high for Bolt going into the 2005 World Championships. With the season starting off so well for the young sprinter, everyone naturally assumed he would make a solid showing at the event. With the improved focus and dedication, even Bolt believed he was a much improved runner. He would be noted as stating, “I really want to make up for what happened in Athens. Hopefully, everything will fall into place.” The sting of the Olympic defeat was still clearly evident. During the preliminary races, he qualified for the finals by posting runs under 21 seconds. However, he would once again feel defeat during the finals when his hamstring would again give him problems. He finished the final event in last place and posted a heartbreaking time of 26.27 seconds.
Bolt was just eighteen years old at the time and injuries were already preventing him from running a full professional athletics season. Many feared this would be detrimental to the mind and spirit of the young runner. He realized that he had still not proven himself in the world of major competitions. To further enhance this problem, he was involved in a car accident that year, which would prevent him performing his normal training regimen. Although the injuries he suffered during the car crash were not severe (just facial lacerations), it would still be damaging to his training. Manager Norman Peart made Bolt’s training schedule easier and he regained full health the following week. After recuperation, Bolt continued to work hard on his training and was rewarded by being placed in the top five in world rankings for the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
During this time, Coach Mills and Bolt’s manager Norman Peart stated that they wanted to begin training Bolt to make him a longer distance runner, focusing on the 400-meter event by the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Bolt was not enthusiastic about this decision. He believed that he was more comfortable, and offered more as a runner, by remaining in the 200-meter event.
While training, he suffered another hamstring injury that would prevent him from competing in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He would not see the track again until May of that year. When his hamstring had healed, he was given new training exercises to increase his flexibility and prevent injuries of this nature. During this time, the plans to place him in the 400-meter event were also put on hold.
The 200-meter event would remain his primary race upon his return to the track. He went on to run in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and beat Justin Gatlin’s meet record. He still wanted to claim a season’s best by posting a time in the 200 meter under twenty seconds. He would have to wait until the 2006 Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland to make that goal come true.
While he would post a personal season-best time of just 19.88 seconds at the Athletissima Grand Prix event, he found himself running behind and finishing third to Zavier Carter and Tyson Gay. That event would earn him a bronze medal and a renewed enthusiasm for his sport.
Bolt would be noted as saying that 2006 was a year to gain experience and to focus on his own athletic goals. He began setting his sights on regularly running in both the 200-meter and 400-meter events during the next two years. This would be his chance to see how he would perform in the 400 meter, an event that his coach and manager aimed to place him in.
At the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany, Bolt would win his first major world medal. He posted a finish time of just 20.10 seconds and won a bronze medal. The medals didn’t stop there for him. He won another medal, the silver, at the IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece. This would be the first senior international medal he had ever won. Even though Bolt finished the race with an impressive time of 19.96 seconds, Wallace Spearmon would go on to win the gold medal in the event by posting a record-setting time of just 19.87 seconds.
Bolt desperately wanted to run in the 100-meter event. However, his coach wanted him to run greater distances like the 400 meter. As a way of diverting Bolt’s attention from the short 100-meter distance, his coach told him that if he could beat the 200-meter record that was set by Don Quarrie, he would be able to run in the 100 meter race.
At the Jamaican Championships, Bolt broke the thirty-six-year-old record for the 200 meter, set by Quarrie, by posting a time of 19.75 seconds, which was 0.11 seconds faster than the 1971 record. Coach Mills was a man of his word and allowed Bolt to run in the 100-meter event during the Twenty-third Vardinoyainnia meet in Rethymno, Crete. Bolt made his coach proud of the decision by setting a personal best time of 10.03 seconds and capturing the gold medal. This fed the enthusiasm he had for the short event.
Still believing in himself, and riding on the wave of energy that comes with winning a gold medal, Bolt went to the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan and won a silver medal in the 200 meters. While fighting a headwind that measured 0.8 meters per second, he recorded a time of just 19.91 seconds. However, it would be Tyson Gay’s time of 19.76 seconds that prevented Bolt from capturing another gold medal. Tyson Gay’s outstanding time also set a new championship record for the event.
Another Jamaican record would be beaten when he partnered with Asafa Powell, Marvin Anderson, and Nesta Carter during the 4 x 100 meter relay event. Their finish of 37.89 seconds would not prove fast enough, though, to defeat the American time of just 37.78 seconds.
The 2007 season didn’t reward Bolt with any gold medals, but his coach felt that his technique was much improved and went on to pinpoint improvements in particular areas of his technique. It appeared that Bolt’s balance in the turns over the 200 meter course was much better, along with an increase in his stride frequency, which gave him more driving power on the track.
After winning silver medals during the 2007 Osaka World Championships, Bolt’s desire to run was tremendous. It was clear that he actually enjoyed his profession and took it seriously, something that had always seemed to be in question. He went on to continually develop his techniques in the 100 meters and entered the event in the Jamaica Invitational that was held in his hometown of Kingston.
Having a tailwind of 1.8 m/s, Bolt posted a time of 9.76 seconds in the 100-meter event on May third, 2008. The time of 9.76 seconds was a noticeable improvement over his previous best of 10.03 seconds and was the second fastest official performance in the history of the event. Asafa Powell’s impressive time of 9.74 seconds had been set the previous year in Rieti, Italy.
Michael Johnson watched this race and said that he was absolutely shocked by how quickly Bolt had improved his techniques. While Coach Mills was convinced that Bolt had more to offer, Bolt surprised himself with his speed. Tyson Gay, Bolt’s rival, was also impressed by how quick of a runner Bolt was becoming.
On May 31st, 2008, at the Reebok Grand Prix held at the Icahn Stadium in New York City, Coach Mills’ statement that Bolt had more to offer would come to fruition. During the event, Bolt set a new world record in the 100-meter event by posting a time of just 9.72 seconds. The new time broke teammate Powell’s previously set time of 9.74.
As impressive as the time was, it is more impressive when it’s considered that this was just Bolt’s fifth senior run in the 100-meter event. Tyson Gay took second place behind Bolt once again and stated that, “It looked like his knees were going past my face,” making reference to the long strides that Bolt had developed. Even sports commentators chimed in on Bolt’s performance, stating that it appeared that Bolt had a psychological advantage over Tyson Gay. It was also during this event that Bolt gained the nickname of “Lightening Bolt.” It appears that there was a thunderstorm prior to the event in which Bolt set a world record, thus giving him the nickname. When he signed a contract with Puma, they revolved their entire marketing campaign around his new-found nickname.
While the sporting world began buzzing about a showdown between Bolt and Tyson at the Olympics, it wouldn’t happen. Tyson would miss his chance at the 2008 Olympics due to an injured hamstring that he received during the Olympic trials. Once the injury to Tyson happened, the buzz of a showdown was gone.
Even though Bolt had made a tremendous all-around improvement in his running, claims were still being made about him being a “lazy athlete.” In June 2008, he would respond to these claims by saying that the comments were unjustified and out of order. He would go on to say that he trained very hard to achieve his potential, but acknowledged that the claims may have come his way due to his lack of interest in the 400 meter event, thus choosing to not make an effort to train for the longer distance.
With his full attention on the 200-meter event, he proved that he could succeed in multiple events. He would set a world leading time in Ostrava and set another record in Athens, Greece by posting a time of 19.67 seconds in the 200-meter race.
While Coach Mills still had aspirations of seeing Bolt focus on the 400-meter event, he accepted Bolt’s choice in running in the 100-meter event. This choice was beneficial to both the sprinter and the trainer. Bolt was thoroughly focused during his training, which made it easier for Coach Mills to train him. It also allowed Coach Mills to work on boosting Bolt’s speed and stamina, a beneficial advantage when running a 400 meter event. While training for the upcoming Olympic Games, Bolt had improved both his 100 meter and 200 meter times and his confidence was beginning to build. He was sure that he would have a great race at the Olympics.
After having great success running the 100-meter events, Bolt completely abandoned his plans of running the 400 meter event in the Olympics. Although he didn’t worry himself about the 400-meter event, his interest in the 200 meter skyrocketed. During an event in June that was held in Athens, Greece, he won the 200-meter event by posting a time of just 19.67 seconds.
Beijing would bear witness as Bolt announced he would be competing in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events. Having already set a world record in the 100 meter, he was favored to win both events. Even Michael Johnson, the record holder for the 200-meter and 400-meter events, had personally backed Bolt to win both events. Michael did not believe that a lack of experience would work against Bolt and that his natural ability would propel him to win the gold.
During the qualifier, Bolt posted a time of 9.92 seconds in the quarterfinals and a time of 9.85 seconds in the semifinals. This allowed Bolt to qualify overall for the 100 meter, an event that he was sure he’d win.
When the gun sounded to start the 100 meter final, Bolt’s reaction time was clocked at just 0.165 seconds and he would break the tape with a new record time of 9.69 seconds, which was 0.20 seconds faster than second place finisher Richard Thompson. The time was impressive enough by itself. However, if you realize that Bolt’s shoelace was untied as he crossed the finish line and it appears he slowed to a jog in celebration of winning; it could have been an even faster time.
Reports of studies of the race were released shortly after. The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo conducted a scientific analysis of the race. Hans Eriksen and his fellow scientists predicted that Bolt would have finished the race with a time below 9.60 if he had kept running with the speed and force he did in the first 60 meters. Based upon that, Coach Mills reported that Bolt would have finished with a time of 9.52 seconds, shattering the previous record, which Bolt himself had set. The team estimated that he would have finished the race in 9.55 seconds, plus or minus 0.04 seconds, if he had not slowed up to celebrate the victory. Fans noted that it appeared that Bolt slowed to a jog in celebratory fashion.
Even after the win, Bolt’s performance was under attack. He had previously stated that he was not interested in breaking another record; he was only interested in giving Jamaica their first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games. Olympic medalist Kriss Akabusi classified Bolt’s chest slapping as “showboating” and admonished Bolt for doing so. IOC President, Jacques Rogge condemned Bolt’s actions and said that is was an act of disrespect to the other athletes. Bolt went on record as stating, “I wasn’t bragging. When I saw I wasn’t covered, I was just happy.” Both the President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, and the Jamaican Government Minister, Edmund Bartlett, supported Bolt and defended his celebratory actions. Minister Bartlett stated, “We have to see it in the glory of their moment and give it to them. We have to allow the personality of youth to express itself.”
Although Bolt had already broken the record for the 100-meter event and taken home the gold medal, he was not done impressing people yet. He set his goal on repeating Carl Lewis’ two wins at the 1984 Olympics that were held in Los Angeles, California. In the 1984 Olympics, Lewis won gold medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events, a feat that Bolt wanted to replicate.
While Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson firmly believed that Bolt could manage the impressive task, he felt that his own Olympic record of 19.32 seconds for the 200-meter event would remain unbroken. Johnson had set that record at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Retired Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie echoed those same feelings, but believed that Bolt would break Johnson’s world record.
Bolt had no problem going through the first and second rounds of the event. Near the end of both runs, he noticeably jogged toward the finish line. However, during the final he would not finish the race as he did in the 100-meter event. Bolt ran hard from the start to the end of the race, even dipping his chest forward to break the tape sooner. When all eyes looked at the stopwatch, the time posted stated that Bolt had, indeed, not only won the gold medal, but had also broken Michael Johnson’s record time. Even while facing a 0.9 m/s headwind, he would stop the clock at 19.30 seconds, which was 0.02 seconds faster than Johnson’s Olympic record. Bolt had given Jamaica their fourth gold medal of the Olympic Games.
To make the event even more special, “Happy Birthday” played over the stadium’s speakers, for Bolt was turning twenty-two years old at midnight. A perfect ending to an Olympic run.
Just two days after the spectacular run, he would run as the third leg in a 4 x 100 meter relay team. Once again, Jamaica won gold, which would be Bolt’s third gold medal of the games. Running with teammates Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell, the team broke another world and Olympic record by posting a time of 37.10 seconds. Asafa Powell, who anchored the team as the fourth leg and crossed the finish line to stop the clock, was still upset about the loss to Bolt in the 100-meter event, but showed no ill will toward his teammate.
Following the success he had at the Olympic Games, Bolt donated $50,000.00 to the children of the Sichuan Province of China to help those that were involved in the 2008 earthquake. Commentators around the world steadily praised Bolt for his accomplishments in the Olympic Games and began mentioning his name as possibly one of the best sprinters in history. They went further in saying Bolt might have been the best cure for the world of sprinting and a new beginning for the sport, due to the negativity that surrounded sprinting because of the drug scandals it had endured.
With the BALCO scandal, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin being stripped of their 100 meter world records, and Marion Jones returning three Olympic gold medals, banned substances were a tremendous concern for the sprinting world. In all of these scandals, the runners failed drug testing and were banned from the world of athletics. By turning in such tremendous record- setting times, it was only natural for people to question Bolt’s training.
Sports commentator Victor Conte shone a bright light on the fact that there wasn’t an independent Caribbean anti-doping federation to intervene. All accusations of drug use were rejected by Coach Glen Mills and the Jamaican athletics team doctor, Herb Elliott. Dr. Elliott, who is a member of the IAAF anti-doping commission, urged anyone that had questions about drug use to come to the training facility and see how they trained. He stated, “Come see our program. Come down and see our testings. We have nothing to hide.” Coach Mills was adamant about Bolt being a drug-free athlete. Coach Mills stated, “We will test any time, any day, any part of the body. He doesn’t even like to take vitamins.” Bolt reported that he had been tested four times prior to the Olympic Games, and all four tests resulted in being negative for banned substances. He even welcomed anti-doping authorities to test him and told reporters, “We work hard and we perform well, and we know we’re clean.”
Toward the end of his historic 2008 season, Bolt remained at the top of his game. At the Super Grand Prix in Luasanne, he set a time of 19.63 seconds in the 200 meter event. At the AF Golden League, which began in Weltklasse, Zurich, he stopped the clock in the 100-meter event at 9.83 seconds. At the onset of the race, it looked like Bolt would not win. He appeared to have a slower reaction time off the blocks than the other sprinters. However, he closed the gap within those 100 meters and crossed the finish line ahead of all competitors.
While the official time was slower than his Olympic record and Asafa Powell’s track record, it was still in the top fifteen of all 100 meter finishes by any sprinter up to that date. He admitted that he hadn’t run at full strength, stating that he was suffering from a cold, but he put all of his focus on winning the race and finishing the season in good health, an accomplishment that he had yet to perform.
While he ran his second-fastest 200 meter time of 19.63 seconds, which equaled Xavier Carter’s track record, it was the upcoming 100 meter final against Asafa Powell at the Golden League Finals in Brussels that garnered the most interest. Asafa had set a new personal best in the 100 meter with a time of 9.72 seconds, which moved him closer to Bolt’s record setting time. With this personal accomplishment, Asafa had set himself as Bolt’s closest 100 meter contender.
A mere three days later, the sprinting world would witness these two outstanding sprinters face each other for the first time since the finals at the Olympic Games. While both runners beat the track record, it was Bolt that would break the tape at the finish line first. This was a daunting task considering he did not start the race well. Being the last sprinter off the starting blocks at the beginning of the race, he not only had to make up serious ground in a short amount of time, he had to endure cold temperatures and a 0.9 m/s headwind. Even while Bolt won the race, both Jamaican sprinters recorded nine of the ten fastest legal times in history for the event. Upon his return back to his beloved Jamaican homeland, Bolt was honored for his accomplishments during the Olympic Games and received the Order of Distinction during a homecoming celebration the nation held in his honor. The awards didn’t stop at that one. He would be named the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year and also won a Special Olympic Award for his achievements and performance during the Olympic Games. Undaunted by the fanfare, Bolt would publicly state that he had turned his focus to setting a new 400 meter time in 2010, since there wasn’t a scheduled major championship for that year.
Bolt began his season by competing in the 400-meter event to improve his times in the shorter races. The results were not what was expected. He won two of the first 400-meter events that he ran in that season. Setting a time of 45.54 in Kingston was the most notable of these two victories. The month of March would offer Bolt his first sub-10 second time of the season in the 100 meter event. The plan of improving his time by running in the longer races was evident.
April had other plans for Bolt. In the latter part of the month, Bolt would be involved in a car accident and receive minor leg injuries as a result. This would require Bolt to undergo minor leg surgery for his injuries. However, like a true champion, he quickly recovered and was back on the track. Having to cancel his appearance in one track meet in Jamaica, he stated that he would be fit to compete in the Manchester Great City Games 150-meter street race.
True to his word, fans from around the world gathered to watch this spectacular runner compete in the unconventional 150-meter race. He not only ran in the race, he won it and set a new record by recording the fastest time ever in the race with a time of just 14.35 seconds. As an added bonus to his victory, Bolt was able to meet one of his favorite soccer players, Cristiano Ronaldo, after the victory.
At the Jamaican National Championships, Bolt set a new record time for the 150-meter event by stopping the clock at 14.35 seconds. He would go on to also secure victories in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events by posting times of 9.86 seconds and 20.25 seconds respectively. Those two victories also qualified him to compete in both of these events at the upcoming 2009 World Championships.
Long-time rival Tyson Gay had remarked that he felt he could beat Bolt’s 100 meter record time. However, Bolt wasn’t daunted by Tyson’s remarks and, instead, was more interested in Asafa Powell’s return from an injury.
The weather was working against Bolt at the Athletissima event. The rain had soaked the track to very unfavorable conditions and a headwind of 0.9 m/s did not bode well for the young speedster. However, Bolt would overcome those drastic conditions and break the tape with the fourth-fastest time in the history of the event by posting a time of 19.59 seconds in the 200-meter event. This time was a mere one-hundredth of a second off Tyson Gay’s best time in the same event. He went on to set a time of 9.79 seconds in the 100-meter event. Commentators wondered if, had the weather been better, Bolt would have set new record times in both events. Bolt would state during a post-event interview that he was only around 85 percent healthy from where he would be when he would arrive in Berlin.
As though he could see into the future, Bolt’s performance at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin was nothing short of remarkable. He easily went through the 100-meter events, even posting the fastest ever pre-final race time of 9.89 seconds.
During the final of the 100-meter event, Bolt would finally be pitted against Tyson Gay for the first time in the season. On the heels of Tyson’s remarks about beating Bolt’s world record in the 100-meter event that he had set in Beijing, speculation and tension were high. However, when the gun sounded to start the race, Bolt’s world record would be broken—only it would be broken by Bolt and not Tyson Gay. Even though Tyson had set a very respectable time of 9.71 seconds, it was still 0.03 seconds away from breaking Bolt’s world record time of 9.69 seconds. While Tyson had a great race, Bolt would turn in another superb race by shattering his own world record by 0.11 seconds and posting a time of 9.58 seconds. This was the largest margin of improvement by any sprinter in any event since the advent of electronic timing in 1968.
Tyson would go on to withdraw from the second race of the competition, the 200 meter, but Bolt would go on to break yet another world record in that event, one that he had set in Beijing. From the start of the race, it was clearly evident that Bolt was in a league of his own. When Bolt crossed the finish line, the clock would show that he had, once again, shattered yet another record by 0.10 seconds. The time of 19.19 seconds was one that had many spectators howling with enthusiastic cheers at the end of the race. Even though the other runners finished with impressive times, three of the runners had sub-19.90-second finishes. Bolt had an extensive lead throughout the race. Third place finisher Wallace Spearmon was astonished by Bolt’s great speed and former Olympian Shawn Crawford stated, “Just coming out there… I felt like I was in a video game, that guy was moving—fast.”
One of the predominant reasons that Bolt’s time had such a drastic improvement was his reaction time. He had been working on lowering his reaction time while working on the 400 meter. The reaction times he posted in the 100 meter were 0.146 seconds and the 200 meter was 0.133 seconds, remarkably quicker than his reaction time in Beijing where he first set the mark for the 100 meter event.
Although he had posted outstanding times in the individual races, the Jamaican men’s relay team that he was a part of did not have remarkable finish times. They posted a time of 37.31 seconds in the 4 x 100 meter event, just short of the 37.10 seconds record they had set during the Olympic Games in Beijing. While the time may not have set a new record, it was quick enough to be recorded as the second-fastest time in the history of the event.
During the final day of the Berlin Championships, Bolt was honored by the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, in a small ceremony in which he was presented with a 12-foot section of the famed Berlin Wall. Mayor Wowereit said during his presentation speech that Bolt showed that “one can tear down walls that had been considered as insurmountable.” The section of wall, which weighs nearly 3 tons, was delivered to Bolt’s training camp in Jamaica where it is on display.
Following the world record performances, Mike Powell, the world record holder in the long jump event, stated that Bolt could possibly become the first man to jump over 9 meters. He went on to say that he would be a perfect fit for the event considering his speed and his height.
Bolt had a remarkable 2009 season; some may even argue that it was a record-setting season. This argument would hold true when you consider that the final event of the season had two new world record times set, both by Bolt. At the end of the 2009 season, Bolt was selected as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.
Bolt started the 2010 season right where he had left off 2009. He posted a 19.56-second time in the 100-meter event in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica. It was recorded as the fourth fastest run of all time for the event. While Bolt had publicly announced that he had no record breaking ambitions for the season, he did make remarks about possibly trying the 300 meter event.
In May, he went on the International Circuit and posted a win in East Asia at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting. He would follow that victory up with another win at the 2010 IAAF Diamond League where he made his debut at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix.
As foretold, Bolt would attempt a rare 300-meter event at the Golden Spike Meeting in Ostrava. Michael Johnson holds the world record of the event with a time of 30.85, which has stood unmatched for ten years. Bolt attempted to break Johnson’s record for the event, but fate would have a different outcome in store for Bolt. While he set a terrific time of 30.97 seconds, it did not come close to Johnson’s record time and he would also suffer an Achilles tendon injury, on a wet track, for his efforts. This would prevent Bolt from competing in any race longer than the 100-meter event for the rest of the season.
When he returned to competition after his injury healed, Bolt won the 100-meter event at the Athletissima Meeting in Lausanne with a time of 9.82 seconds. The next 100-meter event would pit him against Asafa Powell at the Meeting Areva in Paris. Bolt would gain victory over Asafa with a time of 9.84.
The next 100-meter event would hold a different outcome for Bolt. He found himself facing Tyson Gay at the DN Galan and would also face defeat for just the second time in his career. Tyson beat Bolt convincingly with a time of 9.84—Bolt posted a time of 9.97. This would mark the first time that Tyson defeated Bolt and just the second loss of his running career. Unbelievably, this loss was handed to Bolt in the same stadium that Asafa Powell had beaten Bolt for the first time just two years earlier. After this loss, a sore back began to haunt Bolt and due to it, he would cut his season short. Bolt’s 2010 season was plagued by injury and was not a great season for the famed runner. He ended it in August.
Since his Olympic appearance in Beijing in 2008, Bolt had been favored in almost every event in which he appeared. It was no different at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, where he had been favored to win the 100-meter and 200-meter events. However, due to a false start, he would be disqualified from the 100 meter. His fellow countryman, Yohan Blake, would go on to win the event with a time of 9.92 seconds.
The 200-meter race would be different for Bolt. He was careful to not cause a false start and went on to win the finals by posting a time of 19.40 seconds, the fastest time in history to never be a world record.
During the 4 x 100 meter relay, Jamaica’s team would beat its own record-setting time. Running with teammates Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter, and Michael Frater, Bolt and his team would post a finish time of just 37.04 and set a new world record.
The 2012 season has started off well for Bolt. Running in the Bislett Games, a Diamond League event, he won by posting a time of 9.79 seconds in the 100-meter event and beat Asafa Powell. Bolt seemed to be beaten by Powell early in the race. However, halfway through the race, Bolt came alive and powered past his fellow countryman for the victory. After the race, he stated that he didn’t like the new starting blocks that the league had begun using. He says that the new blocks are smaller than the older ones and he has trouble with them because his feet are big—a size 13 in UK sizing.
The starting blocks may not be Bolt’s only challenge. It appears that Yohan Blake is coming of age on the track and has been a fierce competitor for the king of the track. In the last few races of the season, Blake has been dominating Bolt in his preferred event, the 200 meters.
We won’t know the official outcome of the 2012 season for Bolt until the season has ended, but it appears that he may be quickly becoming a “former” record holder. It is said that the career of a sprinter goes one of two ways—either they have a short career or a very long successful one. Bolt is at the turning point of his career. We may be witnessing the changing of the guard for track superstars, or we may be just witnessing a low point in Bolt’s career. Either way, Bolt will always hold a place in our hearts and, in some cases, a place in the record books.