Usain Bolt’s retirement confession left Colin Jackson silently stunned – with the former sprinter’s admission comes days after losing yet another record. The Olympic icon – who accrued eight gold medals during the Games – called time on his iconic career in 2017 at 30 years old when claiming bronze in the 100m of the 2017 World Championships.
While ending his career with a plethora of records – including the fastest time in the 100m and 200m – the 38-year-old recently admitted that he regrets retiring and not continuing up until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Insisting that he’ll never return to track and field, Bolt‘s confession came just days after another one of his records was plucked out of his possession, this time by South African sprinter Akani Simbine.
The 31-year-old won the silver medal in the 4X100m relay at Paris 2024 and recently clocked 11 sub-10-second 100m times for 11 straight years, with the achievement surpassing Bolt’s past record of 10 consecutive seasons.
Speaking to former sprint and hurdling star Colin Jackson, Bolt discussed his regret on the Go Wild Podcast: “I used to complain when I used to travel a lot when I used to do track and field, but I do miss it.
“I do miss the competitions and going to the meets, competing. I don’t miss the training, but I do miss the competition and the World Championships.
“If I’d known, it’s not like I’m not enjoying the time, but I’d have probably gone four more years and say, ‘You know what? Let’s try for Tokyo.’
“But because I dominated so much, I was like ‘Oh I don’t need to go,’ but I knew I was going to miss it so much I’d say, ‘Let’s go four more years.'”
Bolt’s refreshing honesty left Jackson speechless with the Jamaican having to witness some of his records being surpassed by the newer generation of sprinters.
Simbine’s recent feat was achieved at the Botswana Grand Prix last month, with the South African running a supreme 9.90 in the 100m event which currently ranks as the fastest record time in the world this year.
The likes of Australian starlet Gout Gout and Bolt’s compatriot Nickecoy Bramwell have achieved notoriety in recent years for breaking some of the legendary’s sprinter’s youth records.
Bolt’s retirement in 2017 was even more bittersweet with fans only able to watch him complete one race.
He’d decided to opt out of the 200m as he also pulled injured in the 4X100m relay final.
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