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Bolt was under immense pressure after losing out to rival Yohan Blake during the trials but silenced his critics in the competition proper
Three-time Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt has revealed the series of events that challenged him to up his game if he was to successfully defend his titles at the London Olympics.
Bolt was a man under siege after losing to Yohan Blake in Jamaica's 100m and 200m trials for the London Games. These doubts started when the Jamaican star was disqualified from the 100m final at the 2011 World Athletics Championships after a false start.
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15:30 - 27.11.2024
'I loved it'- Usain Bolt reveals how being the 'hunted' propelled him to Olympic glory in 2012
Usain Bolt credits his triple gold at the 2012 London Olympics to a mentality stemming from having a target on his back.
Bolt was involved in an early-morning car crash just six weeks before the Olympic Games. Although he was not injured and recovered quickly, the loss to Blake during the Jamaican trials for the Olympics had a knock-on effect on Bolt and had to do everything to convince his millions of followers that the trials was just a blip.
"The trials woke me up ... Yohan gave me a wake-up call,” he told talkSPORT. "He knocked on my door and said, 'Usain this is the Olympic year, wake up'. After that I refocused and got my head together.”
While these were all minor episodes in the grand scheme of things, they created a sense of doubt about Bolt’s ability to perform on the greatest stage of all. His preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games were consequently carried out with scepticism swirling around him.
06:55 - 25.11.2024
Usain Bolt shares strange advice that fueled his highly successful career and Noah Lyles agrees with it
Jamaican spring great Usain Bolt has shared some strange advice that his coach Glen Mills gave him early in his career which later turned out to serve him well.
Bolt went on to win two more Olympic gold medals in London, triumphing in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Bolt had proved the doubters wrong. "I have nothing to say," he said, when asked to respond to his critics. "I said it on the track. All they can do is talk. I said when it comes to the championships it's all about me."
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