"I wasn't the same person"- Usain Bolt reflects on the false start at the 2011 World Championships that led to his disqualification

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Jul 19, 2024 07:22 GMT

Usain Bolt recently reflected on his false start in the 100m event at the 2011 World Championships which led to his disqualification. Bolt competed in the event against a star-studded lineup, including Yohan Blake, Walter Dix, and Kim Collins.

While Bolt's illustrious career has been decorated with eight Olympic, 14 World Championships medals, and two individual world records, the unfortunate event at the 2011 World Championships can be cited as a setback that stunned the athletics world.

During an exclusive on "The Obi One Podcast" with John Obi-Mikel and Chris McHardy, Bolt reflected on the incident. The former sprinter said that he was struggling throughout the season after he tweaked his hamstrings. However, at the end of the season, by the time Bolt realized his ankles and knees were locked and opted for medical assistance, it was too late.

Bolt struggled with self-doubt and felt like a different person compared to his past races.

"I was all in my head like, am I ready? Am I ready? Because I wasn't the same person. If you watch my season I was struggling. People were running close to me in my head, I was in my head so when I got to the start even though my coach was like 'you're fine, relax,' I could not get out of my head," Bolt said (at 18:48).

"As soon as I got out I was like 'what the hell did I just do. It was just the fact that I was in my head worrying about if I was going to run fast, if I was ready, and that was a lesson," he added.

Yohan Blake dominated the lineup with 9.92 seconds after Bolt was disqualified from the race.

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"I wish he was in my era" - Usain Bolt expresses his desire to compete alongside Noah Lyles

Usain Bolt's 100m world record of 9.58 seconds still stands unbroken. (Image by Getty)

Noah Lyles has never been shy of disclosing his goals to break Usain Bolt's records. Although Lyles has posted times that were close to Bolt's records, they remain untouched.

Lyles recorded his personal best of 9.83 seconds and 19.31 seconds in the 100m and 200m, respectively. During the same podcast, Usain Bolt expressed his passion for intense competition, stating he would have loved to compete against Lyles if they ran in the same era.

"I love competition you know what I mean. And even now like I see Noah Lyles running, I'm like 'yo I wish he was in my era to be cool.' That's how competitive I am," (at 45:40).

Lyles will be seen competing in the 100m at the Paris Olympics with an all-star lineup, including Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, Ackeem Blake, Oblique Seville, and Kishane Thompson.