Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt and ten facts you may not know about the world’s fastest man
SHAUN CUSTIS co-wrote the book 9.58 with Usain Bolt.
Here he hits you with ten lightning bolts on the world’s fastest man . . .
1. Bolt was a talented cricketer and once bowled out West Indies superstar Chris Gayle in a charity match.
“He told me I’d never get him out but I sent the ball down, he went to whack it and it came off the inside edge and shattered his stumps,” the sprint king recalled.
2. Former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o gave Bolt a watch worth £30,000.
He said: “I was standing with him at an event and was almost blinded by the diamonds on the face.
‘Do you like it?’, he said. ‘Yeah it’s good’, I told him. Then he handed it to me, saying: ‘You have it’.”
3. Bolt loves football and has a collection of signed shirts including Edwin Van der Sar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Raul and Steven Gerrard.
4.Having been invited to Manchester United training, Bolt gave Cristiano Ronaldo advice on running properly.
5. He has always dreamed of playing for United when he quits athletics and says: “I’m serious. You don’t know if you’re good enough unless you try.
"I can promise you I’ll be quick and I don’t think I’ll be too old.”
6. Bolt suffers from a condition called scoliosis which causes his spine to curve to the right and means his right leg is half an inch shorter than the left.
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7. Before flying out to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Bolt filmed himself predicting he would win three gold medals at 100m, 200m and 4x100m.
It would have made iconic footage but the phone was stolen from his car and the film has never been seen again.
8. When Bolt set his world record of 9.58sec at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin he did so after a €100 bet with his masseur Eddie and agent Ricky.
Bolt predicted he would run 9.54, Ricky went for 9.5 and Eddie 9.57.
9. Bolt had a serious car crash seven years ago when, while driving in the rain, he rolled his BMW three times with the car landing on its roof in a ditch.
Bolt said: “It could have killed me. I’m just thankful I'm still here.”
10. He is obsessed with dominoes and plays with his friends two or three times a week.
Bolt said: “I never get bored with dominoes. I can play for six hours no problem.
"To some it’s just a bar game of chance, to me it’s a very technical game with a lot of skill involved.”
