“I didn’t expect this,” Usain Bolt kept repeating after his last race in Jamaica, inside the National Stadium on June 11. The greatest sprinter of all time was taken aback by the 30,000 strong audience for his Jamaica farewell. They came to the second staging of the Racers Grand Prix to pay their last respects to Bolt the sprinter, and to salute him.
In a trackside interview with Kayon Raynor of TVJ Sports and a multinational army of reporters, the 30 year-old Bolt said, “I knew it was going to be big but the stadium was ram-packed and I really appreciate you guys coming out and supporting me.” The ‘guys,’ all 30,000 of them, roared their approval in response.
The last time the National Stadium was that full for an evening track and field meet was seven years ago for the 2010 Jamaica Invitational. It came after his world record sprint doubles at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, and at a time when Boltmania was bubbling to a boil.
He closed that meet with a super run in the 200 metres. His winning time of 19.56 seconds would have been a national record for all but 2 countries, Jamaica and the United States.
His winning time in the 100 metres at the Racers Grand Prix was more modest at 10.03 seconds, but it was one of those moments when performance statistics didn’t matter. The gathering was there to give him a royal send-off.
It clearly gave him the heebie-jeebies. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous running the 100 metres,” he confessed afterwards. His audience included track’s glitterati led by Sebastian Coe, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations and Jamaican dignitaries headed by the Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the new Leader of the Opposition, Peter Phillips.
Moved by the outpouring of love, the sprinter supreme said his goal at first was to win one Olympic gold medal, not nine. “That was my aim,” he itemised, “and to have done what I have done and to be in the history books now for me as a legend, it’s something big.”
“I’ve really gotten a huge support from everybody and the fans of Jamaica,” he wowed, “and now for me, who’ve really come out and support me and I want to thank you guys.”
He’s right. When he retained his Olympic 100 and 200 metre title in 2012, he became the first man to do the double twice. When he did the double again last year in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil, he set the bar so far up that sprinters will need rocket launchers to reach it in the future.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #3– July-August 2017
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“I didn’t expect this,” Usain Bolt kept repeating after his last race in Jamaica, inside the National Stadium on June 11. The greatest sprinter of all time was taken aback by the 30,000 strong audience for his Jamaica farewell. They came to the second staging of the Racers Grand Prix to pay their last respects to Bolt the sprinter, and to salute him.
In a trackside interview with Kayon Raynor of TVJ Sports and a multinational army of reporters, the 30 year-old Bolt said, “I knew it was going to be big but the stadium was ram-packed and I really appreciate you guys coming out and supporting me.” The ‘guys,’ all 30,000 of them, roared their approval in response.
The last time the National Stadium was that full for an evening track and field meet was seven years ago for the 2010 Jamaica Invitational. It came after his world record sprint doubles at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, and at a time when Boltmania was bubbling to a boil.
He closed that meet with a super run in the 200 metres. His winning time of 19.56 seconds would have been a national record for all but 2 countries, Jamaica and the United States.
His winning time in the 100 metres at the Racers Grand Prix was more modest at 10.03 seconds, but it was one of those moments when performance statistics didn’t matter. The gathering was there to give him a royal send-off.
It clearly gave him the heebie-jeebies. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous running the 100 metres,” he confessed afterwards. His audience included track’s glitterati led by Sebastian Coe, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations and Jamaican dignitaries headed by the Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the new Leader of the Opposition, Peter Phillips.
Moved by the outpouring of love, the sprinter supreme said his goal at first was to win one Olympic gold medal, not nine. “That was my aim,” he itemised, “and to have done what I have done and to be in the history books now for me as a legend, it’s something big.”
He’s right. When he retained his Olympic 100 and 200 metre title in 2012, he became the first man to do the double twice. When he did the double again last year in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil, he set the bar so far up that sprinters will need rocket launchers to reach it in the future.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #3– July-August 2017
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