Usain Bolt believes that one of his sprinting rivals 'hated his guts' while he was racing - and potentially always will.
Bolt won eight Olympic gold medals between 2008 and 2016, winning every final he or his Jamaican relay team officially finished.
He holds world records in 100m and 200m, with both records set in 2009 and having never been beaten since.
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The Jamaican retired from athletics in 2017 after that year's World Athletics Championships, having suffered with hamstring injuries since after the Rio 2016 Olympics.
He had iconic rivalries with compatriot Yohan Blake, while he and another fellow Jamaican in Asafa Powell were the two fastest men in history over 100 metres at the time of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
The 100m event in China was billed to be a three-way fight between Bolt, Powell and American sprinter Tyson Gay.
However, Gay surprisingly failed to make it past the semi-finals, with a pre-event hamstring injury having affected his preparation.
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And Powell finished fifth in the final, with Bolt sauntering to victory in a world record time of 9.69.
The 2009 World Athletics Championships final provided a better picture of the rivalry, as Gay won silver and Powell bronze.
Gay's time of 9.71, while 0.13 seconds behind winner Bolt, set a new American national record, while Powell's time of 9.84 was a season's best.
The American would defeat Bolt at a Diamond League meeting in Stockholm the following year, though they rarely faced off again until the 2012 Olympic final, when Gay finished fourth.
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Speaking in 2010 to BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon, Bolt sensationally claimed that Gay 'hates my guts' due to how many times he beat him.
He explained: "Me and my best friend, we think Tyson cusses me. He cusses me.
"He just really gets upset, because every time he runs fast, I run faster than he does.
"At the World Championships, he ran a 9.71 - that's the fastest an American has ever gone. And he was still cussing.
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"I think probably, deep down, he hates my guts!"
When it was put to him that Gay 'hated his guts' because, in an era without Bolt, he would win many more gold medals, the Jamaican replied: "I think so [I'm an irritant to him].
"No [we never speak on the phone]. We're cool, but we're not the best of friends I'd say."
Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics, United States
Ryan Smart