What happened to the four sprinters Usain Bolt tipped to challenge him back in 2012

Usain Bolt faced fierce competition during his sprinting career and once spoke on four other Olympians he felt would challenge him - and the quartet have gone on to have varying levels of success in their careers.

Bolt is now retired but has cemented his reputation as potentially the greatest sprinter of all times after claiming gold medals at three different Olympics.

The now 38-year-old burst onto the scene at Beijing 2008 by claiming gold in both the 100m and 200m events.

Bolt then competed at London 2012 to win gold in both events once again, as well as being part of the victorious 4x100m Jamaican relay team to take his tally to five medals across only two Olympics.

And Bolt further secured his legendary status by achieving yet another clean sweep in the same three events four years later at Rio 2016 to take his tally to an extraordinary eight Olympic golds.

Bolt retired the following year as his final race at the World Athletics Championship ending in disappointment through injury after he suffered a hamstring problem during the 4x100m relay final.

In 2012 when he became one of the stars of London 2012, Bolt name checked four other athletes he felt would be the ones to challenge him both then and in the years to come.

These included his compatriots Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake, plus American duo Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin.

Usain Bolt with Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake. (Image: Getty)

Speaking to The Guardian's Donald McRae in 2012, Bolt said: "For me, Yohan is going to be a great athlete and, so far, he has shown the potential to be that great. But I think, definitely, Tyson Gay is one of the fiercest athletes out there.

"It's not going to be him [Blake] alone. It's going to be me, Asafa Powell, Tyson, Justin Gatlin and all these guys. It's a packed race with top-class athletes so it will be a different level of competition for Yohan.

"It's going to take a lot of focus. And it's going to cause a lot of stress. It will really test him as an athlete – and as a person overall. We'll see how good he is."

What happened to the four sprinters Bolt predicted to be world stars?

The four athletes Bolt mentioned back in 2012 have gone on to have careers of different outcomes and fortunes.

Gay won a silver medal as part of the American 4x100m relay team, behind Bolt and Jamaica.

However, Gay was stripped of this medal after he tested positive for a banned substance and had a bronze medal stripped from him as he and the American 4x100m relay team were disqualified due to a baton exchange infraction involving Mike Rodgers and Gatlin.

Controversial athlete Gatlin has been banned twice owing to doping, but had five Olympic medals to his name.

Three of these came at Athens 2004, winning gold in the 100m, silver in the 4x100m and bronze in the 200m.

Gatlin also won bronze in the 100m at London 2012 and silver in the same event at Rio 2016, behind Bolt.

Blake took the silver medal behind Bolt at London 2012 in both the 100m and 200m, but was part of the victorious Jamaican 4x100m relay team.

And Blake repeated the feat along with Bolt, Powell and Nickel Ashmeade at Rio 2016.

Powell's only Olympic medal came in that event, after he and the 4x100m relay team were disqualified from the event at Bejing 2008 despite claiming victory when Nesta Carter tested positive for a prohibited substance.