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Usain Bolt has given a candid explanation as to why the 2004 Olympic Games, where he never made it to the first round, did not hurt him like the 2007 World Championships where he earned a silver medal did.
Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has explained why his loss at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was not as painful as what he experienced at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka despite winning a silver medal in the latter.
In Athens, Usain Bolt could not even make it to the second round of the men’s 200m after finishing fifth in the qualifiers. At that race, only the top four would proceed to the next round. He was forced to end his season there but somehow, that loss did not seem like a warning enough to his career.
Usain Bolt then proceeded to the 2007 World Championships, all charged up to take top honours but he was forced to settle for second place in the men’s 200m final. His second-place finish in Osaka was now a wake up call for him.
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09:30 - 27.10.2024
'He was an anomaly' - American legend Maurice Greene on why modern sprinters get it wrong by copying Usain Bolt's running style
Greene has revealed how Usain Bolt's height forced him to adapt and adjust his running style in a way that suited his body, which modern athletes have mistakenly tried to copy-paste.
In an interview with High Performance, Usain Bolt explained that in 2004, he was young and his performance was not that much of a bother unlike the one in 2007. The double world record holder pointed out that he also had an injury going into the season and it seemed more of a good excuse as to why he did not perform.
“Then you get to the Olympics and meet all these who have been training all year and being dedicated to their craft. I didn’t even make it out of the first round…that was a little bit of a wake-up call to say that I had a long way to go if I couldn’t make it out of the first round and there were three more rounds, that showed how far behind I was,” Usain Bolt said.
“In 2007, it really dawned on me that, ‘Listen, you’re not working hard enough, you need to work even harder.’ It was the World Championships in Osaka and I felt like I was going to do well and I would win and then I came second. I questioned why I did not win since I thought I had really worked hard to be there and I sat down and challenged myself to give 100% to my training,” he added.
From the onwards, Usain Bolt ensured he changed his ways and would invest more time in training and listening to his coach Glen Mills, one of the most accomplished coaches in the world.
He guided Usain Bolt to multiple world and Olympic titles and he was also the tactician that saw the Jamaican sprinter break the 100m and 200m world records at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing before lowering his times at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
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