Usain Bolt Birthday Special: Nine Powerful Quotes by World's Fastest Man

“Lightning doesn’t strike twice” announced the commentator as Usain Bolt prepared to launch himself one final time. This was at the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships in London where Bolt bid adieu to track and field. He doesn’t trade Olympic records any more, but two years on from his retirement, Bolt has sprinted to 33. He remains the world’s fastest man with record time in 100m 200m individual events and is the only man ever to claim a gold in both the respective events in three successive Olympic Games. Bolt has eight Olympic medals making him one of the most accomplished sprinters of all-time.

Bolt was the youngest World Junior gold medallist in 2002 when the world took notice of a young boy from Jamaica, who would go on to break records, create, recreate and change Sprinting history forever. His first appearance in the World Championship in 2007 fetched Bolt two silver medals and he finished with a bronze in 2017 but in between Bolt saw only gold. Other than disqualification from the 100m event at South Korea in 2011, Super Bolt had nothing other than yellow metals swirling around his neck. He finished with 19 Guinness World Records to his name. Take a look at nine most powerful quotes by the legendary sprinter on his 33rd birthday.

Here Are Some of The Most Powerful Quotes of Usain Bolt:

"Don’t think about the start of the race, think about the ending."

"My name is Bolt, Lightning Bolt."

"No Matter How Far You Get Ahead of Me, I'm Gonna Catch You."

"The Last one is the most important one. Because that's when you start improving."

"Dreams are free. Goals have a cost. While you can daydream for free, goals don’t come without a price."

"Easy is not an option. Talent you have Naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours of work."

"Learning the mind is as important as understanding the body."

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination."

"There are better starters than me but I’m a strong finisher."

From Jamaica to Rio de Janeiro, Bolt accomplished everything the track field to offer. In 2015, a year before Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the sprint king announced his decision to quit in 2017. Bolt swept over the Beijing World Championships in 2015 and followed it with another successful Olympics in Brazil. Then came 2017 and the IAAF World Championships returned to London.

He had scripted records at the same Olympic stadium five years ago. And here was Bolt, ready to sprint one final time. Bolt had hit 9.63 seconds at the Summer Olympics in London but managed 9.95 in the 2017 Championships to return with a bronze. This was his first defeat at any major championships but this wasn’t the end. Bolt returned as an anchor runner for Jamaica in the 4 x 400m relay event. With Bolt in their side, Jamaica were the defending champions in both the Olympics and World Championships.

This time they won’t be. Bolt collapsed to the track with 50m of race remaining after suffering a hamstring blow and had to be assisted by his Jamaican teammates Omar McLeod, Julian Forte, and Yohan Blake. A wheelchair was offered but Bolt didn’t oblige.

Instead, he shambled to the finish line on final time just as the commentator said: “We have enjoyed this Bolt for about 10 years.” Fans turning up at the Olympic Stadium in London didn’t really see “Lightning” that day but they saw Bolt. Happy Birthday Usain Bolt!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2019 08:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).