Usain Bolt celebrates his birthday on August 21, the final day of the Rio 2016 Olympics, his last Olympic Games.
“What else can I do to prove to the world I am the greatest?” Bolt said after his 200-meter final win in Brazil. “I am trying to be one of the greatest. Be among Muhammad Ali and Pele. I hope after these Games I will be in that bracket.”
#Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/vc66Nih5bV
— CANOC Broadcasting (@CANOCBroadcast) August 20, 2016
Bolt became the first athlete to win gold in the Men’s 100m, 200m and 4x100m at three consecutive Olympic Games after winning gold in 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio Olympic Games — making him a 9-time Olympic champion.
My fans you guys never doubted me a min and for that I belong to you guys forever #blessed pic.twitter.com/j5xcwI0wXf
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) August 20, 2016
In Brazil, Bolt had so wanted to break the 19-second barrier in his favourite event, the 200m, but he didn’t have the legs. “I’m getting old,” he told reporters after clocking 19.78.
#Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/hz33bTikIz
— CANOC Broadcasting (@CANOCBroadcast) August 20, 2016
The Track and Field icon journey to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and his planned retirement in 2017 will be the centre of a feature-length documentary by British film-house Fulwell 73: I AM BOLT.
Read: Usain Bolt Insists His Ad Shoots Be Done In Jamaica
So, what next for the boy from Sherwood Content, a small town on the northern tip of Jamaica, the sunshine factory for sprinting superstars?
Asked in Rio whether this would be his final Games, he replied: “I want to say so. I think this is the last one.”
If he steps down from the Olympic stage, Bolt will end his career with the same number of Olympic gold medals as American sprint and long jump great Carl Lewis and Finnish middle-distance runner Paavo Nurmi.
But Bolt is also an 11-time world champion and he has already suggested he could finish his career at the 2017 world championships in London, although he may only go over 200m.
