Usain Bolt is a Jamaican athlete who is widely regarded as the world’s fastest human being who has ever been timed. Among others, he holds the record for the 100 and 200 meters sprints since the fully automated time became mandatory. In the 400 by 1e relay, he also holds the world record for clocking the fastest time. Currently, he is the reigning world and Olympic champion in all the named events.
Contents
Early life
Born on 21st August 1986, Usain Bolt grew up with parents Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt and two siblings in a small town in Jamaica known as Sherwood Content. As a child, Bolt spend his days playing football with his brother. He has been quoted saying that as a child, he thought of nothing but sports.
His sprinting potential started getting recognition when he started participating in annual primary school meeting for his parish. Bolt became by far the fastest boy in his school in the 100 meters race by the tender age of twelve.
Once he joined high school, his first taste of success came when he won the high school championships medal in 2001, scooping the silver medal form coming second in the 200 meters after clocking a tie of 22.04 seconds.
His rise to prominence came in the 2002 world junior championships. He was astonishingly already 1.96 meters by the age of 15, therefore making him stand out among his peers. He went on to win the 200 meters sprint. He further went on to break records in the 2003 final Jamaican high school championships. All these records brought him attention from the media and with this came even more platforms to break more records in sprinting.
Career
Bolt went professional in 2004 under new coach Fitz Coleman. His first challenge came in Bermuda where he became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 metersin under 20 seconds. Despite a hamstring setback, disabling him from participating in the 2004 world junior championships, he was still selected for the Jamaican Olympic squad.
His professional career was not always smooth sailing, however, as it was hindered by injuries and other misfortunes such as a car accident that distorted his training schedule at the time.
His first major world medal came at the IAAF world athletics final in Stuttgart (Germany). In 2008, he broke the 100m world record, running in 9.72 seconds at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he broke his own record, running the 100 meters in 9.69 seconds.
Usain Bolt – Girlfriend
His mother Jennifer Bolt is keen to see her famous son find a wife and get married but he think that he wouldn’t get married before 35. He says, “I am not going to get married before 35, that’s for sure. It is hard to stay true to one woman with girls literally throwing themselves at you. Once you get famous, there is so much pressure of girls wanting you”
The sprinting champion even put a picture of her with him on Instagram stating, “ I am tall, I am dark, I am handsome. There is no competition here, I am the greatest.” Bolt’s sister leaked that he has been dating Kasi Benett since two years and was going to be engaged to her soon.
Among the girls he has dated, Usain Bolt has been linked with Megan Edwards, April Jackson, Rebeckah Passley and Lubica Kucerova.
with April Jackson
with girlfriend Megan Edwards
with girlfriend Kasi Bennett
Usain Bolt – Speed
The celebrated athlete’s fastest recorded speed is 9.58 seconds for the 100 meter sprint at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, which clocks at 27.8 miles per hour. His slowest recorded Olympic speed which still him win a gold at the Rio Olympics 2016 was 9.81 seconds. He broke the 200 meters world record twice, with 19.30 seconds in 2008 and 19.19 seconds in 2009.
Trivia
Bolt has time and time again described his love for dancing and music. Aside from that, the 1.95 meter tall athlete has never been too far away from football, occasionally teasing the media that he would sign for English club Manchester United after retirement. – a club he has been supporting from childhood.
Usain Bolt – Net Worth
Usain Bolt is without question one of the best paid athletes in the world today. He typically earns about $ 20 million every year, most of which come from endorsements. Endorsement deals come from brands such as Gatorade, Nissan, Visa, Virgin Media and Puma. From Puma alone, Bolt banks in $ 9 million just for wearing their brand of shoes.
Aside from that, he charges $250-300,000 for a track meet appearance. As of now, his net worth stands at over $60 million.