The Fastest Man Alive

by Usain Bolt

  In the high school championships in 2003, Usain upset the favorite in the 400 meters, Jermaine Gonzales, and won the 200 meters. In fact, his 200m time of 20. 25 seconds was the third fastest in the world at any level. I then went to the parents for a much more serious talk. With one more year left in school, we knew his life was at a critical juncture. He was completing high school that year, but had the opportunity to come back, as he had two more years’ eligibility for the national athletics championships.

  With the vision of Usain becoming a star negotiations within five years, at the Beijing Olympics, proper staffing to enhance his career was essential. With new coach Fitz Coleman and an endorsement contract from Puma secured, a very good competition agent was required. Through a strong recommendation from Juliet Campbell, a private meeting at a Paris restaurant in 2003 with PACE Sports Management (formerly KIM Sports Management) started the process.

  There I met Tom Ratcliffe (American), Ricky Simms (Irish) and Marion Stenininger (German). The meeting went well but of course Usain was not competing until next season so there was no need for a quick decision. It was actually sometime in early 2004 that the contract was hammered out with Tom Ratcliffe. Tom left the company to do his own agency so Ricky became the point man. PACE is still Usain’s agency and I must say a job well done to this date.

  When I was transferred to the Constant Spring tax office in Kingston, Usain moved in with me.

  Over an 18-month period with two tutors and me, Usain was successful in five subjects, giving him the minimum qualification for college. So we had that in the bag. College, however, was put on hold, as he spent only one semester at the University of Technology (UTech).

  Disappointment came in 2004, as injury prevented him from defending his world junior title. He qualified to compete at the Olympic Games in Athens, but did not go past the first round.

  Decision time again ... and after consultation with Usain we decided it was time for a new coach. On our return from Greece, Usain approached Glen Mills. We completed those negotiations.

  The 2005 World Championships in Helsinki now became a test of the capabilities of Coach Mills. Usain reached the 200 meters final, but pulled up with an injury and walked to the finish line. The supporters were not complimentary. There were comments about his extracurricular activities, including clubbing, and things got a little out of hand. We kept to the plan ... he missed the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the criticisms intensified.

  We again stuck to plain ... things changed in 2007, and again international attention grew. With two silver medals, in the 200 meters and the 4x100m relay, there was some backing off. In the meantime the business of track and field was being pursued.

  I then figured that if Usain was not winning, our negotiating tactics were worthless. Puma and Digicel were still our strongest supporters.

  Before Beijing we knew were on to something, but then, 9.69 seconds later, all our lives changed... That spectacular performance in the 100 meters created such a stir that the number of requests I have received went beyond unbelievable.

  The learning curve has been steep, but a team has been put in place to support the star we have on hand. Usain’s incredible performances are in keeping with the brands he has been associated with, and the team around him complements his achievements.

  The experience of managing an athlete of Usain’s caliber has changed my life in several ways. All of us have been affected, in a positive way ... creating far more opportunities than I could ever dream of.

  MY COACHES IN THE EARLIER PART of my career included Olympian Pablo McNeil, Bobby Brown, Darland Clarke and Christopher Mitchell. It was not uncommon for young, upcoming stars in rural Jamaica to have so many coaches. The experience was interesting.

  The great advantage of being a young runner was being able to travel to different places with your friends. It was like going on vacation. One of the biggest events for high school kids was the Penn Relays, which were held at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. The competition has a history going back over 100 years, and the university is credited as the birthplace of relay racing. To fly over and take part in a competition which attracted teams from all over the world in front of thousands of spectators was a real thrill. They say more athletes have run at the Penn Relays than in any other athletics event, Olympics included. We never won there, but it got me dreaming about what it would be like to take part in a major championships.

  As my new training regime at William Knibb took effect I won a silver medal in the 200 meters at the Jamaican High School Championships and silvers in the under-l7s competition at the 2001 CARIFTA Games in Barbados over 200 and 400 metres. When the CARIFTA Games were held in Bahamas in March the following year, I turned the silvers into golds and set championship records in both events.

  It was that time in Nassau that I was first christened the Lightning Bolt. I’d already been called the Thunder Bolt by the regional media and my friends would joke about it. But this was far better. Lightning Bolt had a real sense of excitement about it -a flash and you were gone. As I crossed the line in the 200 meters, the crowd chanted “Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt,” and it got louder and louder. It was very cool.

  Six years later when I set the world 100m record, running 9.72 in New York, they loved the name Lightning Bolt, because there had been thunder rumbling and lightning cracking around the Icahn Stadium before the race. One of the American commentators claimed to have invented it that night but, I’m sorry to disappoint him, he didn’t – it was the crowd in Nassau, long before he got on the microphone.

  I was still only 15 at the 2002 World Junior Championships which, as luck would have it, were held in Kingston. The competition was for under-20s, which made me much younger than many of the other athletes but, being almost 6ft 5ins tall, I didn’t look out of place and certainly didn’t look 15.

  It is the one and only time I’ve felt real pressure. There was a lot of attention on me and a girl sprinter called Anneisha McLaughlin, and we were being talked of as the stars of the future. There might have been even more pressure on Anneisha, who had taken a silver in the relay at the previous world juniors and a bronze in the 400m at the world youths.

  There was a list showing the fastest times in the world that year, on which I was placed fifth, but none of the four above me showed up in Kingston. That meant I was in with a real chance of victory in front of my home crowd. In later years I would be disappointed if my main rivals weren’t present, because it was important to show I could beat everybody, but back then the less challengers the better as far as I was concerned.

  Having got through to the 200m final, I was extremely nervous walking out through the tunnel into our national stadium. The crowd were cheering, and I thought it was all for Anneisha, who had gone out ahead of me. Then, as I set foot on the track, the place went ballistic with shouts of ‘Bolt, Bolt, Bolt.’ I was a kid of 15 and the enormity of it hit me. I cannot recall feeling so much pressure in my life. I had never been in a situation like this before.

  I was so messed up that I put my spikes on the wrong feet, left on right and right on left. My hands were shaking. When I finally got the shoes on the correct feet it was almost impossible to stride out and do my warm-up sprints, my body was so lacking in energy. It was going to be a disaster.

  As we went to the blocks I wasn’t feeling good at all. When the starter announced “On your marks, set...” and then the gun went off, I was last off the blocks, my arms so weak I barely got going. It is hard to explain how tense I felt. No race I’ve ever been in since compares. Everything appeared to be in slow motion, but as I started to run the tension drained away. I rounded the corner and the crowd gave me a tremendous push as they cheered me on down the home straight. I came right through the middle of the other sprinters, hit the front and finished four meters clear of the rest.

  The place went absolutely crazy. I hadn’t thought of doing the sign of a bolt being fired in those days, so I saluted the spectators military sty
le, and they did the same back. Ever since that day I’ve joked around with the crowd and come up with something to involve them in my victories. The interaction we have gives me a buzz, and the spectators have become an important part of the Usain Bolt show.

  It took a while getting round the track to see my parents, who were sat in the grandstand. When I can’t see them at my events they only have to shout “VJ!” and I can find them, because everybody else is shouting Usain. It was the same later at the Olympics. They were so pleased for me. I recognized how much they’d done to help me, it was a victory for us all. There were hundreds of autographs to sign, with people falling over each other offering their congratulations.

  For the first time I had big press coverage in Jamaica – I was on the front and back pages of the papers. It now feels as if my name has been in the news every day since, whether I’m racing or not. Suddenly everything about me was news. When I got an eye infection called conjunctivitis, which Jamaicans call “pink-eye”, even that made the paper -which would have been a real eye-opener, if I could have opened my eye.

  I was proud of what I’d achieved. To win an individual medal for my country was a big moment. I’ve been representing Jamaica since the age of 14 and I’m very patriotic, I love my country and the people.

  Meanwhile my schoolwork had started to slide in the build-up to the world juniors. I was more focused on track and field, and the Principal, Mrs. Margaret Lee, decided I needed a mentor to watch over me, so I could train as much as required but also get my schoolwork done in the evenings. I didn’t agree with the idea, which as far as I could see just meant more school. Now there would be another person telling me what to do apart from my dad and the teachers. But my parents thought it was the right thing to do, so there was no choice in the matter, and with that Mr. Norman Peart came into my life.

  I’VE BEEN

  REPRESENTING

  JAMAICA SINCE

  THE AGE ON 14

  AND I’M VERY

  PATROTIC

  Mr. Peart was a former pupil at William Knibb who had been a good high school runner and understood the demands on a young athlete. He worked in the tax office in Montego Bay and would come to my house two or three evenings a week to help with my studies and sometimes pick me up after training. At first I resented him being around, spoiling my fun, but I gradually got used to it. When I later left William Knibb to join the High Performance Centre in Kingston, where they develop track and field athletes, Mr. Peart got his job transferred and came too. Now he is my full-time manager. The work we put in together with the tutoring helped me pass five subjects at the CXC level.

  The year after winning the world juniors I became the world youth 200m champion in Canada. It was not unexpected, as it was only for sprinters aged up to 18, which made it easier than the juniors. I remember the competition more for the laughs with my friends Andre Willington and Spoony than for the races.

  There was no question of me losing, so the night before the final I worked on a special breakdance routine in front of the mirror until I got it perfect. Andre and Spoony thought it was really cool, winding me up to make it better and better. They told me how they were going to be in the stands and it had to be good to impress them.

  As soon as I won I ran to where they were supposed to be and prepared for my brilliant breakdance. They weren’t there. Where the hell were they? There was no point doing the dance without them, and rather than enjoy the victory I cussed them for ages when I got back to where we were staying. I said I’d practised all night to get it right and was so angry. They couldn’t stop laughing and admitted they’d forgotten about it and went off shopping at the mall instead.

  I was supposed to run the 400m at the youths as well but didn’t want to – it would have got in the way of our fun. If you are entered for an event, you have to give a reason why you can’t run, so there was nothing else for it, I had to fake a bout of diarrhea. When the doctor heard about my “problem” he sent me to the bathroom where I had to sit for ages to convince him. Luckily nobody actually came in to check the evidence, though – they took my word for it.

  In the Jamaican High School Championships of 2003 I broke both the 200m and 400m records by a good margin. It was clearly time for a serious discussion about whether athletics should become my full-time career. If that was the case there was no reason for staying at William Knibb any longer, and after a meeting between my parents, my teachers and Mr Peart, I joined the big world, moved to Kingston, and became a professional athlete.

  I signed my first contract with the Puma sports company, a four-year agreement. It seemed like an enormous sum of money. Puma was the sponsor of the Jamaican team for all major events. The company is ingrained in the country, and they’ve been very good to me. Because of my success William Knibb is sponsored by them and the school never has to buy any athletics kit for the students, it is all provided.

  I’d never had any sort of job, not even a part-time one, and now I was being paid to run. When I look back, though, Puma got me on the cheap, given that I was the best junior in the world, and I still joke with Mr. Peart that he should take the blame for that. He was the man with the business degree. But we were both learning together and we are a lot wiser today.

  On moving to Kingston Mr. Peart and I stayed with another athlete who has become a good friend, Jermaine Gonzales. Then Mr. Peart got married and I moved in with him and his wife. He would go off to work at the tax office during the day, but was also my manager, responsible for organizing my life. I needed him around because my parents weren’t there. Like my dad, he wasn’t keen on me going out and kept teaching me life lessons about how, if I wanted to be a great athlete, I shouldn’t go off drinking and clubbing every night of the week. For a red-blooded teenager who had moved from the country to a bustling city there were a lot of attractions and distractions, but Mr. Peart, unlike my dad, let me find out the good and the bad for myself and never stopped me going anywhere.

  Early in 2004 I broke the world junior record for 200 meters at the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda, running 19.93. For four months until the Athens Olympics it was the fastest time in the world by anyone, in the juniors or seniors. On the face of it, being a full-time athlete was working, but I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like the training regime imposed by my new coach Fitz Coleman.

  HE SAID I WASN’T

  A SCHOOLBOY ANY

  MORE, THAT THIS

  WAS PROFESSIONAL

  ATHLETICS, AND

  TO LEARN TO

  TOUGH IT OUT

  At high school a standard training session consisted of around five 300m runs which were not flat out. When I got to Kingston it was about doing weights all the time and hard 700m, 600m and 500m runs. It was too much work in my estimation, and I told Mr. Coleman my body couldn’t cope. He would just say I should do it, but I told my parents and Mr. Peart that I couldn’t. Mr. Peart was on Coach’s side. He said I wasn’t a schoolboy any more, that this was professional athletics, and to learn to tough it out. It wasn’t the way to get the best from me. I warned them that if I got injured they would all be to blame.

  Usain’s current fame has put the school in the spotlight. Television crews from all over the world have come... from Britain, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and Mexico, and journalists from Time Magazine in America. The children have got quite used to it.

  When Usain won the Olympics, I cried, I couldn’t help it. I was at a principals’ conference watching the 100 meters on television and was completely overcome. This was the same Usain who was such a joy to teach – friendly, happy, well-mannered, and full of energy.

  When he came back from the Olympics we went to a celebration at the stadium and were all given commemorative T-shirts Then we went to William Knibb High School for another ceremony, where Usain presented us with a big bag of cricket gear and a large refrigerator, which we just about managed to load on to the bus.

  Usain was a reasonably bright child, in the top ten of the 40 students in his class. His
parents made sure he always did his homework, and his mother was president of the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA). She helped to raise funds for us through concerts and barbecues.

  From early on we knew Usain was going to be a fierce competitor. His main contender at the school in running was a much shorter Ricardo Geddes. They used to be so competitive with each other, running around the track outside the front of the school. Our school sports day is still held on that same track, and all the kids want to be like Usain.

  I wasn’t around the last time he visited, and he phoned just to tell me he hadn’t forgotten me. No wonder we think he’s special.

  I HAVE A CONDITION CALLED SCOLIOSIS, which causes my spine to curve to the right and has made my right leg half an inch shorter than the left. However, this wasn’t discovered until after Athens, when I’d split from Mr. Coleman and went to train with Glen Mills, who advised me to get a proper check-up.

  A doctor carried out a detailed examination, diagnosed scoliosis and thought I was such a mess I might have to give up athletics altogether. I was seriously worried, but I then went to see a German surgeon called Hans Müller-Wohlfahrt, who is famous for treating top footballers, and he assured me he could put me right. He has been as good as his word.

  Until that breakthrough I’d just got on with training, struggling with my sore back and doing what I was told. When I broke the world junior record, everyone thought Mr. Coleman’s regime had been proved right, but I was concerned about a lack of speed work in my training programme, and it was no surprise to me when I pulled my hamstring as we were preparing for the Olympics. I knew it was all related to my back problems.