Usain Bolt Turned Down Offer to Switch Sports Months After Olympics

Usain Bolt and his representatives held "lengthy discussions" with the Melbourne Stars following his gold medal haul at the London 2012 Olympics, but they eventually decided against the move.

The Jamaican sprinter, who defended his men's 100m title at the London Games in an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds, was open to the idea of switching sports in late 2012.

In fact, the Jamaican record holder engaged in talks with Big Bash League side Melbourne Stars and their star player Shane Warne in October that year as he eyed a potential career playing cricket.

"He [Shane Warne] contacted me and asked me about if I am serious and if I really want to do it then he can put in a few words that should get it done," Bolt said on Channel Nine.

"So we will see if I get the time off. I will try. Twenty20, I love it. Just the fact that it is so exciting, it's about going hard the whole time, not just about playing shots. It's about being aggressive and I like that style of batsman."

Usain Bolt prepares for a charity invitational celebrity cricket match on October 18, 2009 at the Kaiser Sports facility in St. Ann, Jamaica. Image credit: Getty

Bolt added: "If I get the chance I will definitely try because I know it's going to be a lot of fun. I don't know how good I am. I will probably have to get a lot of practice in."

At one stage, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy suggested a deal between Bolt and the Stars to play in the Big Bash Twenty20 League was just "hours away".

But Bolt's agent, Ricky Simms, denied the rumours. "I met with the Melbourne Stars in October and told them Usain is not available to play cricket this year," he told BBC Sport in November 2012.

It emerged that Bolt's management held "lengthy discussions" with Melbourne Stars officials for a number of months but, according to their media manager Jess Cook, his training schedule ahead of the World Championships wouldn't allow him to be involved.

"We will remain close to Bolt and explore it again next season," she added.

Unfortunately, we never got to see the world's fastest man on the cricket field, but never say never.

Speaking in a recent interview with Esquire, Bolt was asked whether he would consider competing for the Jamaican cricket team at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“I am happily retired from professional sport," he said. "I haven’t played cricket in a long time, but if they call, I will be ready."

Usain Bolt plays cricket with Australian cricketers Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb and Aaron Finch during the Gatorade Fastest Run at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 10, 2017 in Melbourne. Image credit: Getty

T20 cricket will feature in LA after the sport’s 128-year hiatus from the Olympics. A six-team tournament, split into two groups of three, will take place for both genders, with each team playing each other once.

Results from the four contests will then be used to determine the final rankings, with the top two sides playing in a final to decide the gold and silver medallists. Third and fourth will, of course, play for bronze.