Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ObiOnePodcast
Topics: Sport, Olympics, Usain Bolt
Jen Thomas
Usain Bolt might have been retired for years now, but people are still asking him how quickly he could run nowadays.
Whether people are trying to weigh up whether they could finally outrun Bolt (answer: no) or if they're just wondering if he's slowed down now he's not running professionally, it seems to be a common question.
The former Olympian appeared on The Obi One Podcast, and revealed he constantly gets asked how quick he is in 2025.
"Everybody asks me that question!" he exclaimed.
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The host asked cautiously: "I don't want to insult you here, but would you still be under 11 seconds?"
"Yeah, of course!" said Bolt incredulously. "10 and a half, that would be me."
The host offered him some running spikes to see how he would get on, and Usain replied: "I'll probably rip my hamstring."
Maybe not then.
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"I'd probably run reserved but I've said this now... everyone asks me this, so I thought I'm going to go home, I'm going to train for three weeks, do the work for three weeks, then go to a track and run and see how fast seriously, so I can pull it out!"
Commenters rushed to leave their encouraging comments. "Miss this man on the track. Mr 9.58 himself," said one.
"He hates training so we will never know," joked another, while one said it really doesn't matter: "Bolt's coach told him before he retired that he could continue running for a long time. Because nobody else to this date is getting faster, Bolt was just getting slower! Think about that, that's how great this man was."
Others urged him to just enjoy his retirement: "You did your time bro, and exceptionally well...now relax and enjoy your life now!" as another said: "You don't need to prove yourself, we love you."
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Bolt retired back in 2017, after winning eight gold medals at the Olympics.
He decided it was time to call it a day after he sustained a hamstring injury at the World Championships towards the end of the 4x100m relay.
He told talkSPORT that he's previously been offered big money to come out of retirement: "I talked to my coach [Glen Mills], my coach was like, 'Absolutely not'.
"It was like two years after I retired, but my coach told me, 'Listen, if you're going to retire, that's it. I'm not going to coach you again, this is it. There's no coming back after this."
He continued: "So when I went to him he was like, 'No, absolutely not.' I was like, 'You know what? I would do it,' because when you go away from a sport, then you start missing it."
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Bolt confessed he had been tempted to try again, but his coach 'shut it down real quick' and saved him from himself.
"I miss the competition," he revealed. "When I sit and watch the World Championships or the Olympics now, your blood starts to boil, you just want to be out there.
"Especially the guys that are not doing that well so I'm like, 'If I was there, I'd be doing so much better.' You know what I mean?
"So you really want it, but then you remember how hard you have to train and you're like, 'Nah forget it.'"