"Swimming is natural, but running...if you stop this, you can't start again" - When Usain Bolt revealed why he won't follow Michael Phelps' example

Usain Bolt once revealed that he wouldn't follow Michael Phelps by coming out of retirement for another Olympic appearance. The Jamaican sprinter stood by his words and didn't compete in any competitive race after retiring at the 2017 World Championships.

Phelps initially retired after the 2012 London Olympics. While he was already the most decorated Olympian in history, the American swimmer came out of retirement for a last dance at the Rio Olympics and won five gold medals.

At the same event, a few days later, Bolt became the first sprinter in history to defend the 100m and 200m titles twice and later announced that he would retire following the 2017 World Championships.

However, Bolt was only 30 at the time and many believed he might follow in the footsteps of Phelps' and make an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. He, however, ruled out the possibility and rejected the comparison between the two sports.

"That will not happen," he told Sport Bild in November 2016. "I won't know how to motivate myself by then. I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

"His swimming can't be compared with my running. Swimming is something natural. Michael will continue to swim after his retirement.But 100 and 200 meters of running, this is nothing natural. If you stop this, you don't start again. At least I w ill not."

Bolt lost in her final 100m race at the World Championships and had to settle for a silver medal. His 100m and 200m world records are still standing strong, and it's unlikely that anyone will break them in the near future.

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"I never saw him" - Michael Phelps on not being able to meet Usain Bolt at any of the four Olympic Games

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt at the 2017 Laureus World Sports Awards - Monaco - Source: Getty

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt competed together at the four Olympic Games between 2004-2016 but were never able to meet each other. Their first interaction happened at the 2017 Laureus Awards following Phelps' retirement.

"Over the span of three Olympic Games, you’re with this guy, and you never meet him. It’s like, we were the big stories of the Games, and we never had the chance to meet until now. It’s just kind of bizarre," Michael Phelps told NBC in 2017. " I never saw him once in any of the [Olympic] villages that we’ve ever had. I never saw him. We just had different schedules. He was [competing] in the second week. I was in the first."

The 23-time Olympic champion was overwhelmed by the Jamaican's height when they first met and said that he looked 'like a horse'.

While Bolt's world records are standing strong, all of Phelps' individual swimming world records have been broken, and he now only holds two of his 39 records, both in relay events.