Today in Sports History: August 5

In 2012, Jamaican runner, Usain Bolt, won the 100m at the London Summer Olympics in 9.63 seconds. It was the best record he had set and beat his record from  the 2008 Summer Olympics. 

Bolt started running before the age of 14. By the age of 16, he was a world junior champion. In 2007, he became the fastest man in history by setting his first world record in the 100m race.

Bolt is an 24-time Diamond League Meeting winner, 11-time World Champion, 8-time Olympic champion, 8-time National Champion, 7-time World Record holder, 6-time Golden League Meeting winner, 3-time Diamond League Final Winner, one-time Diamond Trophy Winner, one-time Commonwealth Games Winner, one-time World Athletics Final winner, and one-time CAC Championships winner. 

Bolt has participated in four Olympic games. He ran in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic games in the 200m, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic games in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, the 2012 London Summer Olympic games in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic games in the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m relay race.

He won 8 Gold Medals – two in the 2008 games for the 100m and the 200m, and three in all of the events he ran in the London and Rio games. In the 2008 games, he broke the world record in all three events. But then, in the 2012 games, he broke his own record.

He currently holds the world records for the 100m running in 9.58 seconds, the 200m running in 19.19 seconds, and the 4×100 relay race in 36.84 seconds. 

Bolt was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2017, and was awarded the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. 

Bolt retired in 2018 and since then he has been doing a lot. He attempted to become a professional soccer player with Borussia Dortmund, Central Coast Mariners, and at Soccer Aid. 

He currently has a clothing line with Puma, got into several business interests such as signature watches with Hublot, a restaurant chain called ‘Tracks & Records’ an Urban Mobility company called, ‘Bolt’, a shaving company called Champion Shave, an insole company Enertor, and created his own foundation called the ‘Usain Bolt Foundation’ which helps creates opportunities for young people through education and cultural development in Jamaica.