Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

Usain St. Leo Bolt, C.D. ( born 21 August 1986), is a Jamaican sprinter. Bolt holds the world record for the 100 metres at 9.58 seconds, the 200 metres at 19.30 seconds and, along with his teammates, the 4x100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds. Bolt also holds the Olympic record in the 100 metres at 9.69 seconds. Bolt became the first man to win all three events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man in history to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "'Lightning Bolt".

Usain Bolt distinguished himself with a 200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, making him the competition's youngest-ever gold medalist. In 2004, at the CARIFTA Games, Bolt became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in under 20 seconds with a time of 19.93 s, breaking Roy Martin's world junior record by two-tenths of a second. Bolt also set competition records at a number of other junior events.

Bolt turned professional in 2004 but missed most of his first two seasons due to injuries; he was eliminated in the first round of the 200 m heats at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2007, Bolt beat Don Quarrie's 200 m Jamaican national record with a run of 19.75 s. In May 2008, Bolt set his first 100 m world record with a time of 9.72 s, improving upon his previous personal best of 9.76 s which was made earlier in the month.

As a result of Bolt's successes in athletics, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2009. In August 2009 in Berlin, Bolt improved the 100 m world record to 9.58 seconds to win his first World Championship gold medal in what was the largest ever margin of improvement in the 100 m world record since the beginning of electronic timing.


Usain Bolt
Nationality: Jamaican
Date of birth: 21 August 1986 (1986-08-21) (age 22)
Place of birth: Trelawny, Jamaica
Height: 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight: 86 kg (190 lb; 13.5 st)
Personal bests
100 m: 9.58 (WR)
150 m: 14.35 (WB)
200 m: 19.30 (WR)(OR)
400 m: 45.28
Medal record
Competitor for Jamaica
Men's athletics
Olympic Games
Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 × 100 m relay
World Championships
Gold 2009 Berlin 100 m
Silver 2007 Osaka 200 m
Silver 2007 Osaka 4 × 100 m relay
World Junior Championships
Gold 2002 Kingston 200 m
Silver 2002 Kingston 4 × 100 m relay
Silver 2002 Kingston 4 × 400 m relay
World Youth Championships
Gold 2003 Sherbrooke 200 m

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt