Olympic legend Usain Bolt didn't hold back when asked to comment on a radical plan that would have seen him lose all of his world records.
Ever since he claimed his first gold medal as a 15-year-old racing in the 200m event at the 2002 world junior championships in Jamaica, it was clear that Bolt was destined for greatness.
Of course, he went on to prove to even better than expected, winning eight Olympic gold medals and claiming three world records that to this day have not been beaten.
Most famously, the Jamaican holds the world record for the 100m sprint with a time of 9.58 seconds, but he later claimed the record in the 200m with a time of 9.19 and the 4x100m record, set at the London 2012 Olympics with a team time of 36.84 seconds.
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However, back in 2016 there was a chance that the Olympic legend could have lost all three of his records as a 2016 proposal from UK Athletics suggested that all world records should be wiped clean.
The proposal, named “A Manifesto for Clean Athletics,” came in response to the doping crisis that ultimately saw Russia being banned from competition for state-sponsored doping.
But Bolt admitted that he was firmly against the proposal, claiming that it was focusing too much on the past, instead of dealing with the present issue.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s really pointless,” he told Reuters, via The Guardian.
"What’s done is done, you have to just move forward and try to make the upcoming championships and Olympics and the next [world] records as best as we can and just look forward to the future. You can’t worry about the past, but try to build on the future," Bolt added.
Luckily for Bolt, the radical proposal, which would have also seen all drug cheats to be banned for at least eight years didn't pass, leaving his world records in place.
And now, nine years later, despite efforts from the likes of Noah Lyles, all three records remain in place, cementing the Jamaican's place as the greatest sprinter of all time.
Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics, Olympics
Ben McCrum