Usain Bolt (born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter and reigning Olympic champion over 100 m. He is the current world record holder in the 100 m (9.69 s), world junior record holder in the 200 metres (19.93 s), and Jamaican record holder in the 200 m (19.67 s). His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt".
Bolt was born in Trelawny, Jamaica and educated at the William Knibb Memorial High School. At the age of 15 he won a gold and two silver medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships in front of a home crowd in Kingston, becoming the youngest world junior gold medalist ever. He won another gold medal at the 2003 World Youth Championships, running the 200 m in 20.40 seconds. Usain Bolt and retired Jamaican sprinter Michael Green are the past students of William Knibb.
In 2004 Bolt ran the 200 m in 19.93 seconds, becoming the first junior to break the 20-second mark; breaking Lorenzo Daniel's world junior record.
At the 2007 Jamaican Championships, Bolt ran 19.75, breaking the 36-year-old national record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. At the World Championships in Osaka, Bolt won a silver medal in the 200 m behind American Tyson Gay.
On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.76 (+1.8 m/s) in the 100 m at the Jamaica Invitational, then the second fastest legal performance in the history of the event, behind compatriot Asafa Powell. Later that month, on 31 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.72 (+1.7 m/s), establishing a new world record in the 100 m at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, breaking the 9.74-second record of Powell. This was only his 5th senior run over the distance. On the 13 July 2008 in Athens, Greece Usain once again broke the 200 m national record by running 19.67.
As the new 100m world record holder, Bolt arrived at the Beijing Summer Olympics as the favorite in both the 100 m and 200 m. After finishing his quarterfinals and semifinals in 9.92 and 9.85, on 16 August 2008, Bolt won the Olympic 100 m final in 9.69 (+0.0 m/s), far ahead of second place finisher Richard Thompson (who finished in 9.89), and shattering his own world record. Not only was his mark made with no tailwind, indicating the quality of his performance, but amazingly he appeared to slow down and celebrate near the finish line after realizing he had secured the gold medal. Bolt warmed up wearing shorts, in contrast to conventional wisdom to keep the athelete's legs warm before a race, indicating his relaxed demeanor and confidence. Curiosly, during the final, his right shoelace have come undone
He is coached by Glen Mills and currently attends the University of Technology, Jamaica. Bolt has 6 sub-10 seconds in 100 m and 12 sub-20 seconds in the 200 m.
