Need to know: Usain Bolt
The Jamaican looks to complete the 'triple-triple' in Rio
By Callum Ng, CBC Sports
The fastest man on earth needs no introduction, but here are a few things you may not know about Jamaica's Usain Bolt.
- WATCH: Men's 100-metre final on Sunday, Aug. 14 at 9:25 p.m. ET
- Usain Bolt chasing unprecedented 100m three-peat
Famous moment
Usain Bolt has six Olympic gold medals, but it is his first that may be the most memorable.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Bolt ran a world record 9.69 seconds, and visibly slowed down toward the finish line, well in front.
Bolt then lowered the world record to 9.58 seconds, which still stands, at the 2009 world championships.
He said it...
- "I was slowing down long before the finish and wasn't tired at all. I could have gone back to the start and done it all over again." — Usain Bolt's thoughts on his 100-metre run in Beijing, published in his autobiography 'Usain Bolt 9.58'
- "It's what I came here to do. I'm now a legend, I'm also the greatest athlete to live." - Usain Bolt after his amazing double at the London Olympics
What they're saying about him...
That he could have run faster in 2008.
One of track's legendary questions is "What if Usain Bolt hadn't celebrated at the end of his 100-metre win in 2008?"
Scientists have tried to answer this question. One study published in the American Journal of Physics found that Bolt could have run 9.55 seconds given certain assumptions.
Strengths
Bolt is tall for a sprinter. He is six-foot-five. American Justin Gatlin, his rival in Rio, is a shade over six-foot. So is Canadian 100-metre Olympic champion Donovan Bailey.
The two keys to Bolt's blazing times are foot speed and stride length.
Sport scientists believe that Bolt's stiff tendons and joints apply more force through his foot with a ground contact time as quick as anyone. And his towering legs help him create a ridiculously long stride length.
Weaknesses
Sprinting longevity comes from an ability to maintain the body over years of training. Bolt will turn 30 on Aug. 21 and has struggled with a hamstring injury as recently as the Jamaican Olympic trials, where he pulled out.
Will Bolt be in top form in Rio?
Fun fact
Bolt likes to dance, a lot. And he commonly uses it as a pre-race ritual to release nerves.
Usain Bolt makes unforgettable exit from Rio news conference <a href="https://t.co/vteeNfgSdF">https://t.co/vteeNfgSdF</a> <a href="https://t.co/4i4yDfVK4i">pic.twitter.com/4i4yDfVK4i</a>
—@CBCOlympicsBorn
Trelawny, Jamaica