Usain Bolt – the world has literally run out of ways to describe him and the performances he has produced. The fastest man on the planet has retained both his Olympic gold medals in the 100m and 200m sprints, cementing his place in history – as if he hadn’t already. That being said, one has to wonder what lies ahead for the 100m World record holder. Will he simply continue in his athletic pursuits, training hard (though not as hard as teammate Blake, apparently…) and working towards more gold in Rio, or is something new on the horizon?
As much as we all love watching Bolt sprint and then inevitably stroll the last couple of yards on the track, after winning gold in Beijing and then retaining it in London, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he yearned for something new. Having already admitted that he doesn’t train as hard anymore, and with rival/teammate Yohan Blake waiting in the wings to be Jamaica’s number 1 sprinter, who could blame him for stepping aside? At only 25 years of age, no one can say he hasn’t conquered his field of expertise.
Maybe a new race will take his fancy. Nothing long distance of course but the idea of Bolt taking on the 400m isn’t too farfetched. It would take a lot of drive and determination to do so but if he set his heart on it, you’d have to believe it would only be a matter of time before he excelled. A different athletics event entirely could be up his alley, with his long legs making him a good candidate for the long jump perhaps?
A different sporting career entirely could be in the pipeline, as it has been no secret lately that he would not refuse a Manchester United trial if it was offered to him. Some may laugh at the idea of it but there must be a few defenders out there straight-faced who can’t bear the thought of Bolt sprinting towards them into the box. I for one would be very interested in seeing him receive a trial. Even if he wasn’t as amazing on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford as he has been on the track at the Olympic Stadium, can you imagine how much publicity would be involved with him joining the club?
You never know, he could be done with competing altogether. With five Olympic gold medals, which will likely turn to six in the coming days after the relay race, who could blame him from walking away completely? It isn’t as if he has anything more to prove. He is charismatic, entertaining and has an aura to him which makes it impossible not to like him, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for him to find a job on television if he wanted it.
He’s a young guy with the world at his feet and could accomplish anything he wanted, so the question is, what does Usain Bolt want next?