'No one can beat my record': Usain Bolt

The gentleman sitting in front of me needs absolutely no introduction. Suffices to say, he's still the fastest human being alive. Usain Bul, thank you so much for joining me.

Happy to be here. [Music] Almost 10 years after your retirement, uh what are you up to these days? Um well, just a lot of um sponsorship work here with Puma, of course.

Um charity work. Um, I have three kids now, so they keep me busy. So, yeah.

Do they make you run? No, not yet. Not yet.

They're still kind of slow, so it's fine. Do you run for fun or no running? Nobody runs for fun unless it's like long distances.

I was never a longdistance runner. Um, I still try to work out as much as possible. Right.

When you look back on your career and what an illustrious career it has been, what is the most precious achievement you? You've got eight Olympic gold medals, multiple world championships, world records, but what is that one thing that you hold most dear? Um, it's always was always the first one.

Um, getting that first one meant a lot. You know what I mean? Because when you come into this sport oft Olympic gold, so winning my first Olympic gold was a big deal for me.

Do you miss that adrenaline rush? Did you miss not uh lighting up at the starting line? Yeah, for sure.

Uh, I do miss competing. Um I was at the World Championships um this year and it was hard to watch just watch so for me but also exciting so I was really happy but it's tough to watch but it's a world championship with a lot of Jamaicans coming up so that was good news for you. Yeah.

Yeah. Um the guys actually won the came one two this year so I was I was very happy to see Jamaica back on top uh this year. So yeah, in the nearly 10 years that you've retired, um technology to a bet running, a bet speed has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet your world records stand there.

Why do you think no one has been able to uh beat them? Uh somebody asked that question, Timmy, and the only thing I can come up with is that our generation was a lot more talented, I must say. I don't know.

Yeah. I think maybe we're just a lot more talented or maybe we work harder. I don't know.

Uh would you put your money on someone to beat your world record? No. No.

We all talk about the achievements of Hussein Bolt. The thing is it's not just the talent. There's a lot of hard work behind it which often gets uh you know we don't talk about it.

Can you talk us through the sacrifices the hard work that went into those enormous achievements? Um it's it's just a lot of dedication and sacrifice and just sweat and tears uh we have to go through. Um for me it was tough but it's something that I understood that we had to do if I wanted to be the best.

That's the first lesson when I when before I left home that my dad taught me. My dad was always saying listen if you want something you have to work hard. Any anytime you need anything work hard you will get it.

And that's something that stuck with me throughout my life and I've always just pushed through and try to be the best that I can be. Can you recall a day where your body wasn't there? Probably your mind wasn't there, but you would push through and practice.

There's there's a lot of days there's a lot of days when the training gets tough and it you kind of your body's telling you, you know what, you need to stop. You know what I mean? And you have to push through.

Um so it's been a lot of days mentally you just got to tell yourself listen this is what I want I want to be the best and I want to be the best I have to do it and that's one of the reason I did my documentary also I am both to show behind the scenes that people can see exactly what I what what it takes to be a champion. Who've been your mentors and inspiration on a on a day where you know you couldn't push yourself you'd look up to them and say you know I have to. Well, for me, I have a great team around me over the years.

Um, that really came true for me in the tough times. Um, really supported me and pushed me to be the best. You know what I mean?

They had the same aspirations for me. So, we were always on the same page. So, anytime I was down on myself or I needed that extra push, they supported me.

Right. Um, in sports, uh, as in business, there are two key challenges. consistency and longevity.

Yeah. Uh you've done that uh beautifully. Your eight Olympic gold medals span across three Olympic games.

What did you do to stay ahead of the curve? Um for me it was just as you said it's all about consistency. Um having a coach like them nails we kind of locked in on what we wanted to do.

You know what I mean? We understood that we're aiming for the Olympics but we took it a year at a time. So every year we would set goals for ourselves and then work towards it.

So for me I didn't worry about the last Olympics. I took it a step at a time every year making sure I was in good shape, making sure I was healthy, making sure I was getting rest, all these things. So I took steps every year to make sure that I was in the best possible shape of my life.

And then it just came together over the years. The first one is always easier because you're the challenger and then you become become the challenged. How do you handle that?

I I live for competition. So, it was fun for me. Um, anytime somebody showed up or I know the competition is going to be tough, it drives me to train harder.

So, for me, it it was great knowing these guys were out there and they were ready to compete. For me, it was easy to to be the challenger, you know what I mean? So, it was excited to to be chased.

when you used to race, you know, we the spectators, fans, we would always, you know, want you to win. We would think that, okay, Usain Bolts hits the tracks, there would be a world record. Uh, how did you handle the pressure of expectations, that constant, uh, pressure to do even better?

For me, uh, I understand that um, fans want to see greatness. So, I try to be as great as possible, but my expectation for myself is always higher than any fan. That's why I always tell people I put so much pressure on myself because I know my goal and what I was striving towards and I didn't want to make any mistakes.

So, it's something that I do not listen to the outside noise. I when I'm on the track, I I perform for my fans, but otherwise I kind of stay to myself and try not to listen about what's going on because there's always somebody saying something negative or wants more. So I've always focused on myself.

Whenever we saw you at the starting line, you looked very casual, you know, not facing the kind of pressure that we thought you were. Uh was that something you consciously put forth or was that your natural state of being? That's just who I am.

Um I I learned at an early age with my coach that um you can't when you get to the line, you can't be worried because you have already done the work. And I I'm always confident in the work that I put in and I know if I worked hard and I was great then I'll be fine. We know Hussein Bolt the sprinter is also a lucrative brand even 10 years after retirement.

Um you've got companies like Puma in your portfolio. How did you craft your image? Is that something you did consciously?

Not not at the start. You you kind of just became your own person. You know what I mean?

And then over time you understand that image is everything. But um the I had to give it up to my parents cuz they made it easy for me cuz I was just naturally a fun, relaxing, respectful person. So it was easy and it just just be me and then it'll be fine.

Right. And now how do you manage to retain that appeal? Is that something that you you think about uh to maintain that brand image?

No, you do you do think about it. You know what I mean? You try to live as great as possible because I understand that I am a role model.

So I try to live respectfully. I try to make sure I speak right and I motivate. So something that I definitely do think about.

One of the key aspects of brand Usain Bolt is your lightning bolt pose. How did that come about? It's just something that kind of happened.

Um me and a friend we talked about it and we said you know what I should create something or do something and and that's what I came up with. Um you've dabbled in a few entrepreneurial ventures as well with a mixed bag of results. Uh is there a lesson that you take from it?

How do an athlete how does an athlete turn into an entrepreneur? No for me you have to try you know what I mean in life like track and field you have to try and work hard. You will make mistakes but you can never just give up.

You know what I mean? So it's something that we if I would like something, if I want to do something, I take a chance. You know what I mean?

And that's why you have a team around it to say yes, yeah, this is sounds good or no, we shouldn't do this or maybe we should do it like this. So it's it's always good to have a great team, great set of people with you. Last question.

Uh you're probably one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, but if you were to define your legacy, what would that be?