Discover the career path of Usain Bolt, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Usain Bolt, a retired Jamaican sprinter, is celebrated as the greatest of all time. He boasts eight Olympic gold medals and holds world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay, solidifying his legacy as a dominant force in sprinting history.
In 2008, Usain Bolt aimed to emulate Carl Lewis's double win in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by winning gold in the 200m event.
Several days after Usain Bolt broke the world records in 100 and 200 metres events in 2009, Mike Powell, the world record holder in long jump, argued that Bolt could become the first man to jump over 9 metres, the long jump event being "a perfect fit for his speed and height".
In 2008, Michael Johnson felt that Bolt would easily win gold but believed that his own world record of 19.32 s set at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta would remain intact at the Olympics.
In 2001, Bolt made his first appearance on the world stage at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, but failed to qualify for the finals.
In 2001, Usain Bolt won his first annual high school championships medal, taking the silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.04 seconds.
Representing Jamaica in his first Caribbean regional event, Bolt clocked a personal best time of 48.28 s in the 400 metres in the 2001 CARIFTA Games, winning a silver medal. The 200 m also yielded a silver, as Bolt finished in 21.81 s.
In 2002, Usain Bolt won the 200 m at the World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the youngest world-junior gold medallist ever. He also took two silver medals as a member of the Jamaican sprint relay team and set national junior records in the 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres relay.
In 2002, after winning the 200 m title in the World Junior Championships, Bolt signed a sponsorship deal with Puma.
In 2003, Bolt was not allowed to participate in the Senior World Championships finals due to a bout of conjunctivitis and concerns about his age and inexperience.
In 2003, Usain Bolt broke the 200 m and 400 m records at his final Jamaican High School Championships, with times of 20.25 s and 45.35 s, respectively.
In 2003, Usain Bolt won four golds at the CARIFTA Games and was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy. He also won a gold at the World Youth Championships.
In 2004, Usain Bolt turned professional and broke the world junior record with a time of 19.93 s in the 200 m. However, a hamstring injury hindered his performance at the Athens Olympics.
In 2009, Wallace Spearmon complimented Usain Bolt's speed after the race in the 200 metres final, and the Olympic champion in Athens 2004 Shawn Crawford said "Just coming out there ... I felt like I was in a video game, that guy was moving – fast".
Usain Bolt felt that both his work ethic and athleticism had much improved since the 2004 Olympics.
At the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Bolt qualified with runs under 21 seconds, but suffered an injury in the final, finishing in last place. However, his appearance made him the youngest ever person to appear in a 200 m world final.
In 2005, Usain Bolt started training with new coach Glen Mills, aiming for a more professional approach to athletics. In July he knocked more than a third of a second off the 200 m CAC Championship record with a run of 20.03 s.
In March 2006, Usain Bolt suffered another hamstring injury, which forced him to withdraw from the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In 2006, Bolt set a new personal best of 19.88 s at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, finishing behind Xavier Carter and Tyson Gay to earn a bronze medal.
At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, Usain Bolt won a silver medal in the 200m race, recording a time of 19.91 s with a head wind.
At the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Bolt was beaten for the first time since the 4 × 100 m relay of the 2007 World Athletics Championships.
In 2007 Peart and Mills stated their intentions to push Bolt to do longer sprinting distances with the aim of making the 400 m event his primary event by 2007 or 2008.
In 2007, Usain Bolt won his first senior international silver medal at the IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece, with a time of 19.96 s in the 200m race.
In 2007, Usain Bolt won silver at the World Championship.
In 2007, Usain Bolt, along with Asafa Powell, Marvin Anderson, and Nesta Carter, won a silver medal in the 4×100 metres relay at a major tournament, setting a national record for Jamaica with a time of 37.89 s.
Throughout 2007, Usain Bolt's coach, Mills, noted significant improvements in his technique, especially in balance during turns and stride frequency, contributing to increased power on the track.
On May 3, 2008, Usain Bolt achieved his first wind-legal sub-10-second performance in the 100m.
On May 3, 2008, at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston, Usain Bolt achieved a personal best of 9.76 s in the 100m, marking the second-fastest legal time in history at that point.
On May 31, 2008, Usain Bolt set a new 100m world record at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York City, running 9.72 s with a tail wind.
On June 12, 2008, Usain Bolt began a streak of 17 undefeated finals in the 200m.
On August 16, 2008, Usain Bolt began a win-streak covering 14 100m finals.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt won a gold medal, which he later duplicated at the 2012 London Olympics. Bolt's success at the Olympics contributed to his legacy as a national hero.
At the end of the 2008 athletics season, Usain Bolt competed in the ÅF Golden League, starting in Weltklasse Zürich, finishing the 100m race in 9.83 s.
In 2007 Peart and Mills stated their intentions to push Bolt to do longer sprinting distances with the aim of making the 400 m event his primary event by 2007 or 2008.
In 2008, Puma released a series of videos to promote Bolt's chase for Olympic glory in the Beijing Summer Olympics, including his record-setting run in Icahn Stadium.
In 2008, The Jamaican relay team won gold at the Summer Olympics with 37.10 seconds. The result was voided in 2017 when the team was disqualified.
In 2008, Usain Bolt gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the Beijing Olympics. This made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.
In 2008, Usain Bolt set the 200 metres world record, with a time of 19.30.
In 2008, Usain Bolt won his third gold medal at the Olympics as part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting another world and Olympic record with a time of 37.10 s.
In 2008, Usain Bolt won the 200 meters title at the Olympics with a time of 19.30 s
In 2008, Usain Bolt won the 4 x 100 m relay gold from the Beijing Games which he was later stripped of in January 2017 because his teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of a doping violation.
In 2009, Usain Bolt, together with other members of Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team, fell short of their own world record of 37.10 s set at 2008 Summer Olympics by timing 37.31 s, which is, however, a championship record and the second fastest time in history at that date.
Bolt also holds the 150 metres world best set in 2009, during which he ran the last 100 metres in 8.70 seconds, the quickest timed 100 metres ever.
During August 2009, at the World Championships in Berlin, Usain Bolt won his first World Championship gold medal, setting a new world record of 9.58 s in the 100m final.
From 2009, Usain Bolt won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals.
In 2009, Usain Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record with 9.58 seconds, the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He also set the 200 metres world record at 19.19 seconds.
In 2009, Usain Bolt set the world record in the 100 metres with a time of 9.58 seconds.
In 2009, Usain Bolt started the season competing in the 400 metres in order to improve his speed, winning two races and registering 45.54 s in Kingston.
On July 16, 2010, Usain Bolt's win-streak covering 14 100m finals came to an end.
Following his achievements at the Olympics, Usain Bolt considered aiming to break the 400 metres world record in 2010 due to the absence of major championships.
In 2010, Usain Bolt achieved the fourth-fastest 200 m run of all time at the time, clocking in at 19.56 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica. Although he expressed no ambitions to break any records for the season, he secured wins in East Asia and Shanghai.
On September 3, 2011, Usain Bolt's undefeated streak of 17 finals in the 200m came to an end.
Following the World Championships, in 2011, Bolt won the 100 m in Zagreb with a time of 9.85 seconds. He later set the year's best time of 9.76 seconds at the Memorial Van Damme. Despite his performance, rival Blake's 200 m run overshadowed him.
In 2011, Usain Bolt had a 100 m false start at the World Championship.
In 2011, the second record came at the World Championships in Athletics, a time of 37.04 seconds.
In 2011, the team had a world record which was beaten in the 2012 Olympics by two tenths of a second.
In the 2011 season, Usain Bolt remained undefeated in both the 100 m and 200 m races. He secured victories in Rome and Ostrava in May, and in June 2011, he achieved a world-leading time of 19.86 seconds in Oslo.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt won the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.63 seconds. With the 2012 win, Bolt became the first man to successfully defend an Olympic sprint title since Carl Lewis in 1988, solidifying his status as a national hero.
In 2012, Bolt began the season with a leading 100 m time of 9.82 seconds in May. Later, at the Jamaican Athletics Championships in 2012, he was defeated by Yohan Blake in both the 200 m and 100 m races.
In 2012, Usain Bolt helped Jamaica set a 4 × 100 metres relay world record of 36.84 seconds.
In 2012, Usain Bolt won Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles, making him the only sprinter to achieve this at three consecutive Olympics. He also won a 4 × 100 relay gold medal.
In 2012, on the final day of the Olympic athletics, Bolt participated in Jamaica's gold medal-winning 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting a time of 36.84 seconds. They knocked two tenths of a second from their previous world record from 2011.
In 2012, the third world record was set at the Summer Olympics, a time of 36.84 seconds.
Usain Bolt concluded his 2012 season with victories in the 2012 IAAF Diamond League circuit, securing 200 m wins in Lausanne and Zürich, and a 100 m win in Brussels. The 100 m win in Brussels earned him his first Diamond League title in the 100 m.
In 2013, Usain Bolt was named IAAF World Male Athlete of the Year for the fifth time in six years. He remained unbeaten in the 200 m, and his only loss that year was to Gatlin over 100 m in Rome.
In 2013, Usain Bolt won a third consecutive world relay gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay final, making him the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the World Championships. The Jamaican team was victorious with Bolt anchoring the team.
In August 2014, Usain Bolt set the indoor 100 m world record in Warsaw with a time of 9.98 seconds. This was his sole individual outing of the 2014 season.
At the start of 2015, Usain Bolt intended to make the 2017 World Championships in Athletics his last major competition before retirement.
Following his sole individual outing of the 2014 season, Usain Bolt ended his season early in order to be fit for the 2015 season.
In 2015, Usain Bolt won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Bolt secured the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.81 seconds, becoming the first athlete to win the event three times at the Olympic Games. He also won the 200 m and anchored the 4 x 100 m relay to victory.
In 2016, Bolt competed sparingly in the 200 m before the Olympics, with a run of 19.89 seconds to win at the London Grand Prix. His best of 9.88 seconds in Kingston placed him fourth on the world seasonal rankings.
In 2016, Usain Bolt won Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles, making him the only sprinter to achieve this at three consecutive Olympics. He also won a 4 × 100 relay gold medal.
In January 2017, the Jamaican relay teammates, including Usain Bolt, were stripped of their gold medals from the 2008 Olympics after a blood sample from Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance.
In February 2017, Usain Bolt participated in the inaugural Nitro Athletics meet in Australia, leading his team (Bolt All-Stars) to victory. He had committed himself to three further editions.
On August 5, 2017, Usain Bolt recorded his last wind-legal sub-10-second performance in the 100m at the World Championships.
At the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Bolt won a bronze medal in his final individual race, finishing in 9.95 s, behind Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman. Also in 2017, Bolt pulled up in agony during the 4 × 100 metres relay final due to a hamstring injury.
At the start of 2015, Usain Bolt intended to make the 2017 World Championships in Athletics his last major competition before retirement.
In 2017, The Jamaican relay team were disqualified due to his team member Nesta Carter's urine sample being retested and found positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.
Usain Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships, finishing third in his last solo 100 m race, opting out of the 200 m, and pulling up injured in the 4×100 m relay final.
In 2018, Usain Bolt co-founded Bolt Mobility, an electric scooter company.
In 2021, Usain Bolt partnered with SprintRay Inc to launch "Bolt Labs powered by SprintRay" in Jamaica, aiming to increase access to dental care through 3D printing technology.