“No way I'm going to break this 200m world record"- Usain Bolt opens up on being bounded by limits before the Beijing Olympics 

By Adityan Pillai

Modified Nov 02, 2024 02:45 GMT

Usain Bolt spoke about facing self-doubt and bounded by limits before the Beijing Olympics. The Jamaican athlete revealed how he initially believed that the 200m world record was far-fetched while discussing it with his roommate but later realized that he was limiting himself from achieving great things.

Bolt made his Olympic debut in 2004 but failed to qualify for the finals. He returned to the next edition of the Olympic games in Beijing in 2008 and was considered one of the top prospects for the podium after his performances in the 2007 season. Bolt dominated the line-up in all the events that he participated in and achieved the sprint double world records in both the 100m and the 200m.

However, Bolt spoke about facing self-doubt ahead of his appearance at the Olympic games especially for the 200m in an interview with High Performance. The 200m world record was set by the legendary athlete Michael Johnson in 1996 and Bolt felt that he wasn't running fast enough to get close to the time.

“So for me, I remember it was after the 200 meters. That was when it was, I really thought about it. Because in 08, the world record was for Michael Johnson, it was very far.“I was running okay. And I remember sitting down with my roommate at the time, Maurice Smith, and we were having a conversation. And he's like, are you going to go for the 200 world record?” Bolt said.

“And I was like, you know what? Why not try? You know what I mean? Because I limited myself. Because I said to myself, there's no way I'm going to break this 200 meter world record. Because I wasn't running that fast.And I was like, there's no way. But that was me limiting myself. And after that, that was when I was like, you know what? Anything is possible, don't think limits. So from then on, I will never limit myself,” he added.

Usain Bolt's performances at the Beijing Olympics

Usain Bolt mersmerized supporters at the Beijing Olympics (Image Source: Getty)

Usain Bolt participated in three events at the Beijing Olympics which included the men's 100, 200m, and 4x100m relay. He competed in the men's 100m against a highly competitive line-up including Asafa Powell, Walter Dix, and Richard Thompson among others. He clocked 9.69s to shatter the 100m world record and win the gold medal.

Bolt then moved on to the 200m where he broke the world record with a performance of 19.30s and won the gold medal. He competed in the final event of his Olympic campaign in the men's 4x100m relay. Bolt's teammates were Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, and Asafa Powell.

They finished first in the event with a world-record performance of 37.10. However, the team was stripped of their gold medal in 2017 as Bolt's teammate Nesta Carter's sample tested positive for a banned substance.