Former Jamaica and World spring champion is contemplating taking up soccer as a new sport in which to participate.
Legendary retired Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, says he is seriously weighing up a career in football, and is currently getting in shape to undertake a possible trial at German Bundesliga giants, Borussia Dortmund.
The multiple-time World and Olympic champion, the most successful sprinter ever in the history of track and field, has always flirted with the idea of a football career but has firmed up plans following his retirement last August at the World Championships in London.
The multiple-time World and Olympic champion, the most successful sprinter ever in the history of the sport, has always flirted with the idea of a football career but has firmed up plans following his retirement last August at the World Championships in London.
Trying to get fit
“It’s something that I want to do. I’m trying to get fit now,” the 31-year-old told the Herald Sun as he took charge of a training session with members of the Australia cricket side preparing for the Ashes series against England.
“My doctor finally passed me after my hamstring problems at the World Championships, so now I can start training. I’ve started training while I’m here and trying to get into shape before I get home and next year I’ll get a trial and we’ll take it from there.”
Bolt dominated sprinting ever since dramatically bursting onto the international scene at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, going on to become the first sprinter to win the 100 and 200 metres titles at three consecutive Olympiads.
He is an 11-time World champion and remains the world’s fastest-ever man with his astonishing 100m record of 9.58 seconds and 200m mark of 19.19 seconds, still intact.
His last appearance at the London World Championships was riddled with injury, however, as he could only manage third in the 100m before pulling up in the sprint relay.
Will give plenty of thought
The injury raised some doubt over his ability to continue as a top tier athlete but Bolt said he would give his new interests plenty thought before making a final decision.
“We’ll decide if it makes sense. When I put my mind to something, I’m going to do it,” he pointed out. I’m going to train hard, put myself through some drills. Coach of the team in Jamaica – I’ll do some work with him also to figure out the finer details.”
Train Australia cricketers on speed
Bolt took the Aussie cricketers through their paces as he helped sharpen up the speed element of their running, ahead of the opening Test on Thursday in Brisbane.
“It’s all about explosiveness, and that’s one thing I’ve noticed with cricket – they don’t really have a lot of explosiveness when they’re running,” Bolt noted.
Batsman Peter Handscomb said they would be taking Bolt’s tips on board to help with their game.
“We’ll give it a crack. He was trying to get us nice and low in the turn and in and out. The first couple of steps are key and if we can get them right, we’ll be fast.”
