Usain Bolt competed for the last time on the world stage at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. While the memories of watching him end his career with an injury do not do justice to his legacy, his relevance on the track is much more than that.?
The man is the fastest in the 100m race with 9.58 seconds on the clock. He broke his own record of 9.69 seconds which was at the 2008 Olympics.?
On August 20, 2009, he once again left us enthralled with 200m raced in 19.19 seconds. There seemed to be no stopping him. In fact Bolt is finding it difficult to believe that it is almost 10 years.
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"Time passes quickly. It doesn't seem like 10 years ago," he said while interacting with TOI over email.
"My main memory is the iconic blue Regupol track in Berlin in a stadium that had so much history," he added.
"I was coming off winning my first Olympic Games triple in 2008 and had a good winter's training. I always go into a Championship aiming to win but I knew that if I ran well I could also improve the records."
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But the man maintains that winning the Olympic golds were his special moments on the track.?
"For me, the Olympic Games gold medals will always be the highlight. I always ran for medal over times. Having the medals and the times is the best of both worlds," he said.
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"I definitely miss the buzz of competing and getting the energy from the crowd in a packed stadium, but I am very happy with my decision to retire and have no regrets on that front. Since my retirement I have put my energy into other projects and have been very busy with them," he went on to say.
For Bolt, it was the medals and not the records that made him run. That is why loved to watch him. He was second to none, and left the others far behind. Yes, he may no longer be running, but the legacy he leaves behind will keep on running forever.