Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive Page #3

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To this day, he remains the only junior

to run the race in under 20 seconds.

17 years old and the world's

most promising young sprinter,

Bolt looks set for stardom at the

Olympic Games in Athens that year.

But a series of injuries means

he is forced to bow out of a

major athletics meeting in Kingston

and it's clear he's not

fully fit for Athens.

But Bolt chooses to ignore

advice and takes part, anyway.

I didn't think he should go.

He didn't merit on that

team but they selected him.

I knew he was not going to do well

because he was not on

par with his training

because of his sickness and so forth.

Running with a torn hamstring,

Bolt is eliminated in the heats

of his first Olympic Games.

A lot of people would have failed

in Athens and never recover.

Not Usain. He just went along,

enjoying what he was doing.

Following his Olympic defeat,

Usain makes a decision

that will change his life.

He takes on a new trainer, Glen Mills,

then head coach of the

Jamaican Olympic team.

Mills has moulded dozens of sprinters,

including Kim Collins, the 100

metre world champion in 2003.

For Mills, there is only one focus

- the Olympic Games in Beijing.

He was recovering from a torn hamstring.

The whole question of muscle strength

and overall body weakness were

some of the areas that we looked at.

Well, he was young and inexperienced

and didn't quite understand fully what

it meant to be a professional athlete.

He was always enthusiastic.

He was determined to do well,

but there were a number of

things that we had to, you know,

point out to him about

his dedication to training,

application, following

up the little details.

At six foot five, and weighing 220lbs,

Usain is unusually tall for a sprinter.

Mills forces him to concentrate

on strength and speed,

pushing Bolt's body to the

limit in weight training sessions

lasting one and a half

hours, three times a week.

He has some very special qualities,

both as a competitor and as a person.

He has the ability to

focus almost instantly

and he learns very fast.

He's not a workaholic,

but he will work hard

if he ever finds himself in a

situation where it is necessary.

Yes, we can!

Imagine me, a black president, man.

Fastest black president!

HE CHUCKLES:

The session today will be tough.

This 30-minute massage prepares

Usain for the pain ahead.

WHISTLE:

Shoulders down.

That's it.

Dying.

I think a lot of people,

they see you run and they say,

"Oh, it looks so easy. It

really looks effortless. "

But, before it gets to that point,

day in, day out - sacrifice,

day in, day out

- just dying.

There's time when you run

and you just want to stop.

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