Usain Bolt salutes fans immediately after crossing the finish line in first place in the 100m in 10.03 seconds inside the National Stadium on Saturday night. Photo: Garfield Robinson)
After his early exploits in the 200m event — winning the IAAF World Junior title in Kingston in 2002, the IAAF World Youth title in Canada a year later, before setting a World Junior Record 19.93 seconds in Hamilton, Bermuda in 2004 — Usain Bolt said his dream was to be an Olympic champion in the 200m.
Some 13 years and multiple world records in both the 100m and 200m events later, and a legitimate legend of the sport, Bolt says he has surpassed his own lofty goals.
Being an Olympic sprint champion itself is an outstanding feat, and the 30-year-old who ran his last competitive 100m race on Jamaican soil on Saturday night, winning in 10.03 seconds, has won six individual Olympic Games sprint gold medals.
Add to that another seven individual gold medals at the IAAF World Championships, and he has exceeded the expectations of any man that has ever laced up a pair of running spikes.
On Saturday night, after an emotional few hours at the JN Racers Grand Prix, dubbed ‘Salute to a Legend’ in his honour, Bolt was almost at a loss for words.
“There are no words,” he said to describe the feeling. “From 2002 the support that I got from Jamaica. I never thought I would ever get to these heights in track and field; my only aim was to be an Olympic 200m champion, that was my aim,” he reiterated.
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