Usain Bolt made it clear that he “wasn’t worried” about Noah Lyles breaking his sprinting world records at the Paris Olympics.
The Jamaican legend still holds the 100m record, set at an incredible 9.58 seconds during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, and the 200m record at 19.19 seconds, achieved just days later.
In the lead-up to the Games, some anticipated that American sprinter Lyles might challenge Bolt’s records, especially after running the 200m in 19.31 seconds at the World Championships, securing him third place on the all-time list.
Lyles went on to win the 100m gold with a personal best of 9.784 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to beat Bolt’s record. In the 200m, he won bronze with a time of 19.70, later revealing that he’d been battling Covid, which forced him to sit out the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Bolt, during an appearance on the ‘High Performance Podcast,’ shared his thoughts, saying, “I wasn’t worried (laughs). I can say. It’s going to take a while, but I’m always happy when it stays intact.”
When asked about his dream 4x100m relay lineup, Bolt, rather than selecting Lyles, named: “Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. It would definitely be Asafa (Powell) to start, then Justin (Gatlin), Yohan Blake and me at anchor. Those would be the four. When I started out, I was 15 when I won the world juniors.”
Reflecting on his early career, Bolt gave advice to young athletes, inspired by Gout Gout’s recent record-breaking run at the U20 World Championships in Peru, where he beat Bolt’s own 200m time for that age group. Bolt recalled, “I was really young, I was really talented, so I didn’t have to work as hard.”
He further shared: “It was just talent, (but) I was winning, winning, and winning. I remember when I got to the professional level, and I felt like it was just going to be easy. (But) I got onto the stage, and I would go to meets, and I would lose.”
Bolt explained how his coach helped him understand the importance of hard work, saying, “‘Listen, everybody who’s a professional has talent, so it’s who works the hardest on their talent who will be the best.” He added, “That’s when I kind of understood that you can’t get to the top with just talent alone. You need work, you need sacrifice, you have to be dedicated. It took me time, but I learned along the way, and I got better over time.”
