Usain Bolt - Gleaner photo
Usain Bolt, the Jamaican Olympic great, told CNN in a recent interview, that his Olympic gold medals stand out as his most special achievements in track and field, as according to him, those are accomplishments that can never be taken away, even if at some point in the future his world records are broken by a successor on the track.
"It's always going to be the [Olympic] gold medals," without hesitation Bolt told CNN Sport. "I think that's what really stamped my authority on the sport… I showed my dominance throughout the years.
"Yeah I'm very proud of being the fastest man in the world,” he added, but made the point that “it takes so much to do three back-to-back Olympic and win those, so for me I'm most proud of my gold medals."
There are indeed many Olympic gold medals for the retired sprinter to cherish, more than any other male sprinter in the history of track and field; three in the 100 metres, three in the 200 metres, and two from the sprint relay as well. These came in three consecutive Olympic Games – Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and Rio in 2016.
The year after Rio he retired with an astonishing 11 World Championship gold medals as well, but remains one of the most recognizable and sought after sporting personalities in the world, with endorsement deals still coming his way because of the lasting impact he has made on the world, even beyond the track.
Bolt told CNN he wasn’t concerned about the prospects of his records eventually be broken with the help of such technology, rather than pure physical prowess.
"The fact that everyone will know why, then it doesn't bother me… I'm happy to be the fastest man in the world, but it was always the gold medals that really mattered to me because that's how you really prove yourself, you know what I mean.
"There are so many people that could say: 'I'm a former world record holder,' but there are not a lot of people who can say: 'I won; well, just me - three Olympic gold medals back-to-back.'
"So for me, this is why I pushed myself so hard to dominate, because I know at any point in time somebody can just break your record and then if you put so much on that, then what do you have left?"
Retirement
Now at age 34 and three-and-a-half years into retirement, Bolt made it clear that he has settled into his new role as a father to his baby girl, named Olympia Lightning Bolt, and life with his partner Kasi Bennett.
He said he spends most of his days with his young family other than getting in some exercise to "keep the weight off."
He also revealed that he’s been getting new endorsement deals, including one in which he and former USWNT player Abby Wambach are now the faces of Gatorade's new campaign, which pays homage to the classic "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" commercial, originally featuring Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm.
Beyond that, he declared that he was looking forward to enjoying the Tokyo Olympics simply as a fan, with the event postponed from last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, now set to take place this summer.
"I'm definitely excited to just be in the stands," he explained to CNN, reflective of the fact that he has settled easily into his own post Olympic years.
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