During an appearance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last week, Bolt treated 60,000 Japanese fans to his signature lightning bolt celebration. His 100m record of 9.58 seconds and 200m record of 19.19 seconds remain unbroken. However, Bolt revealed a significant decline in his fitness after rupturing his Achilles tendon last year.
"I don't run anymore," the former Jamaican athlete said. "I mostly work out at the gym, but I'm not very enthusiastic about it. Now I realize I need to start running again because even climbing stairs makes me short of breath."
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Usain Bolt at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 14/9/2025. Photo: EPA |
Usain Bolt at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 14/9/2025. Photo: EPA
In Tokyo, Bolt's successor, Oblique Seville, won the 100m gold medal with a time of 9.77 seconds. But the 24-year-old still has a long way to go to match Bolt's eight Olympic gold medals and 11 world championship titles.
When asked why current athletes haven't reached the level of the previous generation, Bolt stated, "Honestly, we were simply more talented. New shoe technology or track surfaces can't replace natural talent. Look at the women; their times are getting faster, demonstrating progress. But it's different for men. Our generation was simply superior."
Bolt's former rivals, such as Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and Justin Gatlin, all achieved times under 9.75 seconds, a feat no one has accomplished in the past decade until Seville.
Off the track, Bolt says his life revolves around family. "I usually just have time to get the kids ready for school," he shared. "After that, if I don't have anything else to do, I stay home and watch movies, sometimes I do light exercises. In the afternoon, I play with them for a while, and when they start getting on my nerves, I go somewhere else. I now enjoy doing puzzles; it's quite fun."
Although he no longer follows athletics as closely, Bolt plans to take his children, Olympia Lightning (5), and twins Saint Leo and Thunder (4), to Beijing in 2027 for the world championships. This is where his legendary career began with a hat-trick of gold medals at the 2008 Olympics.
"The kids will be around 6 and 7 then, old enough to understand what I've done," he added. "I want to show them where it all started, the moments they've only seen in videos."
Hoang An (Guardian)