What I've Learned: Usain Bolt
Photography: courtesy of Hublot

SEVEN YEARS INTO RETIREMENT, and Usain Bolt still thinks about running under 19 seconds in a 200m event. It’s something he would’ve loved to do. As one of the world’s most decorated athletes, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist reflects on how he got here, his rivals along the way, and what motivated him in the last season of his career. Now a father of three, the 38-year-old is holding out for one of his kids to follow in his long strides (though he isn’t one to force it). Here, he sits down for Esquire‘s long-running Q & A series ‘What I’ve Learned’.

I was high energy as a kid. Anything that could burn energy, I was doing it. We were raised in the streets. We played cricket, football in the street. We were getting in trouble – natural boys. I just liked to have fun.

The first three seasons at the senior level [in athletics] were the toughest for me.
It was difficult because I was still fresh, and I didn’t understand how to deal with my scoliosis. Every time I started doing well, I’d get an injury because I didn’t understand that I needed to work on my back.

Every time I broke the world record, I felt like I ran a perfect race. But my coach always found a fault. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever run a perfect race for him. Especially in the 100 metres, you can’t really make mistakes. Everything has to be spot on.

There was always someone who was a rival. You need that to push you. Tyson [Gay] and Asafa [Powell] were rivals through most of my career. Then came Yohan Blake, who was my training partner. He continuously pushed me. And at the end of my career there was Justin Gatlin. You need that person who, if I miss a day of training, they’re going to be gaining on me. It makes you want to make sure you train every day; you execute right. Rivals are really important.

I’ve always made goals. Every year I would set a time target I would want to hit,
and I’d try to win the world championships. That was always something. I was always pushing myself.

The 200 is my favourite event. I would have loved to have run under 19 seconds. That’s the only thing that I missed. That would’ve been something.

The last season of my career was tough. It was really hard to get motivated because I had won gold at my last Olympics in Rio. I was doing it for the fans, and I really wanted to do good for them in that last world championships [2017].

I’m praying to God one of my kids does track and field. I would never force them to do anything, because I understand if you don’t enjoy what you do, you won’t do it to the best of your ability. But hopefully, one of them picks up the sport, so I can pass on all the knowledge that I have.

Football was something that I wanted to do. It didn’t work out as I wanted. But the fact that I got to do it was wonderful.

Even me and my friends get caught up in these [GOAT] debates. But it’s always great to know that there can be no debate about who is the best [in sprinting], because I set myself apart from all the other athletes by having the world records. It’s a great feeling, trust me.

Anybody who has a world record hopes it lasts forever.

Usain Bolt is a Hublot ambassador.

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