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"You don't get to enjoy dinner or just take the kids out" - Usain Bolt gives his take on becoming a global icon after Olympics success
Usain Bolt, the most decorated track and field runner in history, recently opened up about what he missed the most after gaining overnight fame and global recognition following his success at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bold secured gold medals in both the 100m and 200m events at those Games.
Following a disappointing Athens Olympics campaign where the Jamaican icon was eliminated in the first round of the 200m, the then 22-year-old Bolt participated in his second Summer Games in Beijing in 2008. There, he made history by winning both the 100m and 200m finals while setting new world records in both disciplines. From that moment on, Bolt became an unstoppable force on the track and went on to defend his titles in both events for two consecutive Olympics until the 2016 Rio Olympics.
After his remarkable performance at the Beijing Olympics run, the Sherwood Content native became the talk of the track and field world. Reflecting on the fame that followed, Usain Bolt shared that he began to miss his private space and that he could no longer take his kids to the park without being recognized.
"For me it was the access; you get to enjoy, you get to games and restaurants and all this, but your personal life and everything is in the media, and you don't get to enjoy dinner as you want or just take the kids out. Like I have kids now; you can't just go to the park; you have to be careful. So those are the things that you have to give and take," he said (via his interview on High Performance on YouTube in October) [33:20 onwards]
"I wasn't running that fast" - Usain Bolt refelects on battling self-doubt before the Beijing Olympics
In the aforementioned interview with High Performance, Usain Bolt shared that he hadn't initially planned on breaking the world record, and it was only after his roommate Maurice Smith's suggestion that he began considering the possibility. However, Bolt also acknowledged that he had been limiting himself and that he was determined to change that mindset.
"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?” he said. [46:29 onwards]
"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. [47:05 onwards]
However, Usain Bolt later shattered both of his world records from the Beijing Games, setting new marks of 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m that he still holds to this day.
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