"That's the one time I'm shaking, I put the wrong foot in the wrong shoe because I couldn't focus" - Usain Bolt recalls biggest moment of his career

Usain Bolt rose to prominence for the first time at the 2002 World Junior Championships, and for him, winning the 200m title with a world record in front of 36,000 fans was a moment he was most proud of. In a recent podcast, the eight-time Olympic champion called it the 'biggest moment of his career' which shaped his senior years in the sport.

In his early years, Bolt played cricket and football before finding his footing in track and field during primary school. However, he continued playing other sports as well until Olympic athlete Pablo McNeil encouraged him to focus on athletics. Bolt would later win his first high school championship in 2001.

The Jamaican made his first international appearance at the 2001 CARIFTA Games, winning silver medals in the 200m and the 400m. He continued racking up medals in the junior circuits with ease before he landed back in Jamaica for the 2002 World Junior Championships.

Bolt set broke the U15 world record in the 200m heats, running a blistering 20.58s to send the home crowd into a frenzy. He would later win the gold medal in the finals in 20.61s and more than two decades later, call it the biggest moment of his career. Speaking at a High-Performance podcast live session at IFS Unleashed 2024 on October 28, Bolt said:

"One of the greatest moments that I love is, was the first time I won in front of my crowd. I think that made such a big impact on my life and helped me to overcome so much. When I won at 15 in Jamaica in World Juniors, I think that in my career was so big." [51:10 onwards]

Explaining why it was such a big moment, the 38-year-old claimed he was very nervous before the start of the race

"It might not seem big to a lot of people but I was so nervous, that's the one time where nerves are to the point I'm shaking. I put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot because I couldn't focus. I was just so stressed and I said to myself If I can win in front of my home crowd. That really set the benchmark for me throughout the years to be better," Usain Bolt added

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Usain Bolt explained his decision to retire early

2024 Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid - Usain Bolt speaks with media (Source: Getty)

Usain Bolt retired at the end of the 2017 World Championships after winning a bronze medal in the 100m, the first of his illustrious career. He was 31 years old at that time, which is considered relatively early for sprinters to retire.

However, Bolt claimed he had set a target for himself at the start of his career and after achieving that at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he decided to hang up his shoes. During the same podcast, he said:

"At the start of my career, I made an end goal where I wanted to go. When I started out, I said this is what I wanted to achieve and my biggest goal was to win three Olympics back to back.. and when I actually got to that target, for me it was a hard road of 10-12 years of continuous work, for me it was like, yes this is it," he said [3:40 onwards].

Usain Bolt finished his career with eight Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles and is recognized as one of the greatest sprinters in history.