Usain Bolt Refused to Name World Record Holder in All-Time Top Five Sprinters
Usain Bolt is widely regarded as the GOAT of sprinting.
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Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics
Marcus Chan
Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics
Athletics legend Usain Bolt once refused to name a world record holder when picking his top five sprinters.
Bolt, 39, is one of the finest athletes the world has ever seen, having enjoyed a stellar career.
In total, the Jamaican won eight Olympic golds, 11 gold medals in the World Championships and one Commonwealth Games gold.
Despite retiring in 2017, Bolt is still the world record holder in both 100m and 200m, having set the stunning times during his prime years.
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Due to his achievements on the track, Bolt is widely regarded as the GOAT of sprinting.
Back in 2018, during a press conference with South African journalists, Bolt was asked to name his all-time top five sprinters.
As per Times Live, Bolt put himself as the top dog before naming Team USA legend Michael Johnson, who was the former 200m and 400m world record holder.
Bolt then said: "Maurice Greene for sure," before picking fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell.
Before Bolt managed to say his fifth pick, the compere said: "You’d better say Wayde van Niekerk."
South African Wayde van Niekerk is the current world and Olympic record holder over 400m, having set the time when he won at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
However, Bolt said: "He’s not really a sprinter‚ is he? He wants to be a sprinter. He’s not really a sprinter.
"Talk to his coach and hear what his coach says‚” insisted Bolt. “I promise you‚ he’s been trying to convince her for the longest time to make him a sprinter."
When asked about Van Niekerk's world record affort in 2016, Bolt said: "I wasn’t really surprised. The first year when he came to Jamaica we all trained together‚ I was saying to my coach that when he’s ready he can break the world record.
"When it happened it wasn’t a surprise‚ it was the fact that he almost ran 42 that I was surprised about. That was just brilliant‚ he’s an awesome athlete."
After snubbing Van Niekerk, Bolt went on to name Jamaican Don Quarrie in his top five.