Jamaican Sprint legend Usain Bolt will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.
The eight-time Olympic gold medalist who retired in August 2017 is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter in history. Bolt, 36, is the world record holder of both the 100m and 200m.
Bolt was crowned Olympic 100m and 200m champion at three successive Games – Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Bolt attributes his success to hard work.
“I’m living proof that if you work hard, you can get anything you want,” Bolt said during an interview with BBC Sport.
“One thing my dad taught me was if you want something, work hard for it. He showed me by working hard to provide for me, my mum and my sister, so when he told me, I believed it. Just be focused and work towards it,” he said.
Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.
An eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100m, 200m and 4 × 100 meters relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100m false start in 2011. He is the most successful male athlete of the World Championships. Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200m and is one of the most successful in the 100m with three titles.
Bolt improved upon his second 100m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 meters world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 meters relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012. Bolt’s most successful event is the 200m, with three Olympic and four World titles. The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100m; he had earlier won numerous 200m medals. Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships.
Reflecting on his athletics career, Bolt said he felt he accomplished all he wanted in his sport.
“It is a great feeling to know that with the determination and sacrifice that I put in I could accomplish what I wanted to. I try to motivate people by telling them to believe in themselves,” he said.
Previous winners of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement award include Billie Jean King, Pele, Bobby Charlton, Tanni Grey-Thompson, David Beckham, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Chris Hoy and last year’s recipient Simone Biles.
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony takes place Wednesday December 21, at MediaCityUK in Salford.
