The school had a history of success in athletics with past students, including sprinter Michael Green. Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete, and Dwayne Jarrett coached Bolt, encouraging him to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities. Upon his entry to William Knibb Memorial High School, Bolt continued to focus on other sports, but his cricket coach noticed Bolt's speed on the pitch and urged him to try track and field events. Bolt also developed an affection for European football teams Real Madrid and Manchester United. By the age of twelve, Bolt had become the school's fastest runner over the 100 metres distance. His parents ran the local grocery store in the rural area, and Bolt spent his time playing cricket and football in the street with his brother, later saying, 'When I was young, I didn't really think about anything other than sports.' As a child, Bolt attended Waldensia Primary, where he began showing his sprint potential when he ran in his parish's annual national primary school meet. He has a brother, Sadiki, and a sister, Sherine.

Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships, when he finished third in his last solo 100 m race, opted out of the 200 m, and pulled up injured in the 4×100 m relay final.īolt was born on 21 August 1986 to parents Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt in Sherwood Content, a small town in Jamaica. Bolt was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2016. His achievements as a sprinter have earned him the media nickname 'Lightning Bolt', and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year (three times), and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times). The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100 m he had earlier won numerous 200 m medals (including 2007 World Championship silver) and held the world under-20 and world under-18 records for the event until being surpassed by Erriyon Knighton in 2021. Bolt's most successful event is the 200 m, with three Olympic and four World titles. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is one of the most successful in the 100 m with three titles.īolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He is the most successful male athlete of the World Championships. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.Īn eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011. He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.Īn eight-time Olympic gold medallist, Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016).

Leo Bolt OJ CD OLY ( / ˈ juː s eɪ n/ born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. It capped a remarkable turnaround from the Tokyo Olympics a year ago when the American men left without any individual track golds.Usain St. Thursday’s race was the first time any country has swept the two men’s sprints in the same year at the world championship. “Today is my day - I finally got to do what I dreamed of,” Lyles said. Lyles has made it a point to speak openly about the challenges he’s overcome to train and race including asthma and depression. I looked up at the big screen and it said 19.31 and I just went ballistic,” Lyles said.Īccording to NPR, the achievement was hard to gain. I was just begging it to change and then I heard the crowd just go into an uproar. Johnson later approached Lyles to congratulate him on the new record break. However, it was then updated to an official 19.31 seconds when Lyles wasn’t looking. NBC reported Lyles’s time was initially displayed as 19.32 seconds, which would have tied with Johnson’s record.

Fastest runner in the world