"It's painful to watch Jamaica losing" - Usain Bolt recalls how he thought of coming out of retirement ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020

By Abhiruchi Rout

Modified Oct 28, 2024 19:48 GMT

Usain Bolt recently opened up about thinking to return to professional track and field after retiring from the sport in 2017. Notably, Bolt retired as one of the most successful track and field athletes, with three world records in the 100m (9.58), 200m (19.19), and 4x100m (36.84) still under his name despite his retirement.

Before his retirement, Bolt earned eight gold medals, including three in 100m and 200m each, and two in the 4x100m relay events at the Olympic Games. He ended his journey at the World Athletics Championships, becoming one of the most successful athletes in the competition’s history, with 11 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze.

Recently, during the High Performance Podcast, Usain Bolt was asked about how he mentally coped up after leaving the sport. To which, he reacted (starting at 5:53):

“For me, mentally I was ready to go. But, I think after you retire and then you start watching the sport that's when it becomes a little bit hard. But, I was ready to go because I had accomplished and I had saw so many athletes that tried to rekindle their greatness after they retired. Then, you're at home and you're watching and you're like itching to go back.”

He credited his coach for not pushing him to come back to the sport, adding:

"I must give it up to my coach. My coach actually helped me not to go back because there was once where I was like, ‘Coach, I think I should start running again.’ He goes no. He said this to me when I told him that I was going to retire. He said, ‘Listen, when you retire that's it, we're not going to do any comeback tour. This is it.’”

However, Usain Bolt shared that he felt the urge to return to the sport after seeing Jamaican athletes lose their dominance.

“So, I remember when we sat down and we were talking and he was like no we're not going to do this. It's painful to sit and watch especially because the male athletes weren't dominating for Jamaica and I sit and watch us losing and I was like, itching to go back to perform for my country.”

He also mentioned that his desire to come back came two years following his retirement, indicating that it was ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I really missed it”- Usain Bolt opens up on missing out on the Tokyo Olympics

Usain Bolt at Rio Olympics (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Usain Bolt, who had hung up his boots before the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, opened up on not competing at the edition’s quadrennial Games. He spoke on his non-participation, stating (via AFP):

"I really missed it. I was like, I wish I was there..Because for me, I live for those moments. So it was hard to watch.”

At the Tokyo Olympics, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs took home the gold medal in the 100m in a time of 9.80s, while Andre de Grasse of Canada bagged the gold in the 200m, clocking 19.62s.