"I was still nervous"- Usain Bolt opens up feeling the pressure before his Olympic appearance despite breaking world record

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is known for his exploits at the Beijing Olympics, which made him a household name. The 38-year-old former sprinter opened up on his state of mind before his second Olympic appearance.

Bolt made his debut at the prestigious sporting event in 2004 but ended without getting a medal. The Jamaican broke the 100m world record a couple of months before competing in Beijing 2008 but even that could not prevent his nervousness ahead of the event.

In an appearance on the 'High Performance Podcast', Bolt revealed that while he was excited for his second appearance at the Olympics, he was equally nervous.

"I was like you know what, let me do exactly what the coach says, and let's see how it works out, and the moment throughout the whole season, I was running very well. I actually broke the world record before I actually go to the [Beijing] Olympics, so I could see it before it actually happened," the Jamaican. [23:19 onwards]

Bolt further added:

"So for me it was just excitement. I was excited to go to the Olympics because I knew I was in good shape, I was running good. I was still nervous because this was my first like major thing now, and I was in great shape, you know what I mean."

Bolt had an impressive outing at the 2008 Olympics, winning two golds in the 100m and 200m events, clocking world-record timings.

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When Usain Bolt was criticized for his post race celebrations

Usain Bolt celebrating as he races the way to the world record in the 100m finals at Beijing Olympics 2008 [Image Source : Getty]

Usain Bolt is not just popular for his fierce speed on track, he is equally celebrated for his signature pose after winning the races. However, there was also a time when his celebrations were criticized by some as 'disrespectful'.

Bolt recalled his experience at the Beijing Olympics, where he was surprised on the disdain he received from some people for his celebration way before he reached the finish line in the men's 100m finals. In his words,

"When I got to the senior level, it didn't change. But people were like, 'What are you doing?', because everybody was serious, I was like, 'Yo, I'm just being myself.' Because I remember when I celebrated, when I won, people came to me and were like me 'Oh, you're disrespectful', so I went to that actual athletes, the athletes I knew, and I asked them, 'Was I disrespectful?' They said 'No, if we were winning by that far, we would be doing the same thing!'."

Usain Bolt won a total of eight Olympic medals, from his breakthrought at Beijing Olympics in 2008, to his final appearance at the quadrennial event held at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Bolt had also won an Olympic gold medal in the men's 4x100m relay at the Beijing Olympics, but it was revoked when his teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of doping in January 2017.