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Usain Bolt

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Usain Bolt

Medal record
Representing  Jamaica
Men's athletics
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 100 m
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2007 Osaka 200 m
Silver medal – second place 2007 Osaka 4 × 100 m relay
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Kingston 200 m
Silver medal – second place 2002 Kingston 4 × 100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2002 Kingston 4 × 400 m relay
World Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 Sherbrooke 200 m

Usain Bolt (born 20 August 1986[1]) is a Jamaican sprinter. He is the reigning Olympic champion over 100 metres and holds both world and Olympic 100 metres records with a time of 9.69 seconds. Bolt is also the world junior record holder in the 200 metres (19.93 seconds), and Jamaican national record holder in the 200 metres (19.67 seconds). His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt".[2]

Early life

Bolt was born in Trelawny, Jamaica,[3] to Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt.[4] Bolt's talent for athletics was evident even as a child, impressing in the annual, national [primary school]]s meeting for his parish. Upon his entry to William Knibb Memorial High School, his coach encouraged him to focus his energies on track and field. He won his first annual high school championships medal in 2001, winning the silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.04 seconds.[2]

Performing in his first Caribbean national event, Bolt clocked a personal best of 48.28 seconds in the 400metres in the 2001 CARIFTA games, earning himself a silver medal.[5] The 200 metres also yielded a silver as Bolt finished in 21.81 seconds. Bolt made his first appearance on the world stage at the [[IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. Running in the 200 metres event, he failed to qualify for the finals but he still set a new personal best of 21.73 seconds.[6] Bolt really made his mark in 2002, winning both 200 and 400 metres events in the High School Championships, Carifta Games and CAC Junior Championships.[5] At the age of 15 he won a gold and two silver medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships in front of a home crowd in Kingston, becoming the youngest world junior gold medallist ever. He won another gold medal at the 2003 World Youth Championships, running the 200 m in 20.40 seconds. Usain Bolt and retired Jamaican sprinter Michael Green are the past students of William Knibb.[2]

Athletics career

In 2004, Bolt ran the 200 m in 19.93 seconds, becoming the first junior to break the 20-second mark, and breaking Lorenzo Daniel's world junior record.[7] Bolt continued to improve and ran a personal best of 19.88 seconds at the 1996 Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, finishing behind Xavier Carter and Tyson Gay to earn a bronze medal.[8]

At the 2007 Jamaican Championships, Bolt ran 19.75, breaking the 36-year-old national record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. At the World Championships in Osaka, Bolt won a silver medal in the 200 m behind American Tyson Gay.

On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.76 (+1.8 m/s) in the 100 m at the Jamaica Invitational, then the second fastest legal performance in the history of the event, behind compatriot Asafa Powell. Later that month, on 31 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.72 (+1.7 m/s), establishing a new world record in the 100 m at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, breaking the 9.74-second record of Powell.[9][10] This was made even more remarkable by the fact that this was only his 5th senior run over the distance.[11] On the 13 July 2008 in Athens, Greece Usain once again broke the 200 m national record by running 19.67.

As the new 100 m world record holder, Bolt arrived at the Beijing Summer Olympics as the favorite in both the 100 m and 200 m. On 16 August 2008, after having finished comfortably his 100 m quarterfinals and semifinals in 9.92 and 9.85, Bolt won the Olympic 100 m final in 9.69 (+0.0 m/s), well ahead of second place finisher Richard Thompson, who finished in 9.89, shattering his own world record.[12][13] Not only was his mark made with no tailwind, indicating the quality of his performance, but he appeared to slow down and celebrate near the finish line after looking to his right and realizing he had secured the gold medal after he had run past the 80-metre line. [14] In addition, his left shoelace came undone.[15][16] He is coached by Glen Mills[17] and currently attends the University of Technology, Jamaica.[18] Bolt has 6 sub-10 seconds in 100 m and 12 sub-20 seconds in the 200 m.

Endorsement deal

After winning the 200 m title in the World Junior Championships in front of his home crowd in Jamaica in 2002, Bolt was quickly signed up by Puma, in the process becoming one of the company's leading athletes.[19] To promote Bolt's chase for Olympic glory in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Puma has released a series of videos showcasing Bolt's world-record-setting run in the Reebok Grand Prix to his preparations for the Olympics.[20] During the Beijing 2008 100m final, Bolt wore golden Puma spikes that read 'Beijing 100m Gold'.

Personal bests

Date Event Venue Time (seconds)
August 16, 2008 100 m Beijing, China 9.69 World Record
July 13, 2008 200 m Athens, Greece 19.67 NR
May 5, 2007 400 m Kingston, Jamaica 45.28

Achievements

Year Tournament Venue Result Event Time (seconds)
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st 200 metres 20.61
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 39.15 NJR
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:04.06 NJR
2003 World Youth Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 1st 200 metres 20.40
2004 Carifta Games Hamilton, Bermuda 1st 200 metres 19.93 WJR
2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships Nassau, Bahamas 1st 200 metres 20.03
2007 World Championships in Athletics Osaka, Japan 2nd 200 metres 19.91
2008 Reebok Grand Prix New York City, United States 1st 100 metres 9.72 (WR)
2008 Beijing Olympics Beijing, China 1st 100 metres 9.69 (WR)

See also

References

Wikinews has related news:
  1. ^ Denyer, Simon. Athletics - Sharp as lightning, Bolt brings glamour back. Reuters. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Lawrence, Hubert; Samuels, Garfield (2007-08-20). "Focus on Jamaica - Usain Bolt". Focus on Athletes. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 2008-06-01.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Helps, Horace. Bolt's gold down to yam power, father says. Reuters South Africa. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  4. ^ Layden, Tim. The Phenom. Sports Illustrated. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Carifta Games (Under 17 boys)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  6. ^ "Official Results - 200 metres - Men - Semi-Final". IAAF. 2001-07-14. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Longmore, Andrew (2008-08-16). "9.69 - and Usain Bolt didn't even try". The Times. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Liu eclipses Jackson with 110m hurdles record". The Guardian. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Bolt strikes for 100m world record at New York meeting". Agence France-Presse. New York City, New York. 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  10. ^ Bolt and Robles' world records ratified. Agence France-Presse. MSN. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  11. ^ Broadbent, Rick (2008-06-02). "Usain Bolt runs into indifference". The Times. Retrieved 2008-08-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Bolt surges to gold in new record. BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  13. ^ Fendrich, Howard. Bolt breaks 100-meter record, wins Olympic gold. The Associated Press. Google News. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  14. ^ « Usain Bolt rewrote the record books », peoplestar.co.uk, August 16 2008.
  15. ^ Casert, Raf. Olympics: Bolt smashes 100m record. New Zealand Herald. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  16. ^ Mostruoso Bolt: record con la scarpa slacciata (Italian). Repubblica.it. 16 August 2008.
  17. ^ Hersh, Philip. Usain Bolt gives Jamaica its first Olympic sprint champion. Los Angeles Times. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  18. ^ Channer, Colin. 'Cool Runnings' Are Heating Up. Wall Street Journal. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  19. ^ Weiner, Jay. "Usain Bolt blazes to top of 100-meter lore". Sporting news.
  20. ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/chasingBOLT


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