Getty Usain Bolt attends 2019 Oaks Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 07, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia.
Usain Bolt is now retired from competitive running and will not be competing in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. It will be the first time the Jamaican star has not made an appearance in the Olympic games in more than a decade. Today, he is a 34-year-old father of three and a businessman.
He made history as the fastest man in the world in 2007 and won three gold medals — in the men’s 100-meter sprint, the 200 and the 4-x-100-meter relay — at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, according to his Olympics biography. Bolt’s birthday fell during the Beijing Olympics, meaning he earned the first two medals as a 21-year-old and won the third at age 22.
“Usain Bolt has been, quite simply, the face of the last three Olympic Games,” his Olympics biography says. “To win the event’s blue riband event, the 100m, just once, guarantees Olympic immortality. To do it three times at consecutive Games, and add the 200m and 4x100m relay titles to the mix, gives him a good case to be considered the greatest athlete of all time. Still only 33, he is a living legend. Add real charm and humour to the mix, and Bolt has been the superstar that the Games needed over the last decade and a bit.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Bolt Retired in 2017 & Became a Businessman; He Will Run an 800-Meter Promotional Race
Bolt spoke to NBC about his 2017 retirement and said he is now training to run an 800-meter promotional run, a much lengthier run than his usual race. He jokingly said that he did not miss the Olympics as much once he started training for the 800.
“When I go to the track and start training, then I don’t miss it that much,” he told NBC Sports. “I’m excited to be training and just running and seeing what I can do.”
“I definitely miss it a little bit,” he added to NBC.
He wrote a message of encouragement to those competing in the 2021 Olympics on his Instagram page.
“Just remember how hard you all been training for this moment and all will be ok,” he wrote.
Bolt has also pursued off-track endeavors. In 2013, he opened his own restaurant chain — Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records — which has since expanded to include three locations in Jamaica and one in the UK, according to the company’s website.
In 2019, Bolt released a song called Olympe Rose Riddim, to promote his signature champagne, Usain Bolt’s Olympe Rose, according to Jamaicans.com.
“Everyone is aware that I have retired from sports. I am now a full-time businessman and will continue to do my best in whatever ventures I pursue,” he told Jamaicans.com.
Bolt Recently Had Twins & He Has a 1-Year-Old Daughter
Bolt has three children with his longtime girlfriend, Kasi Bennett. Their first child, a girl, was born in May 2020 and named Olympia Lightning Bolt, according to PEOPLE. The article, published in May 2020, said Bolt and Bennett had been together for “nearly seven years.”
In June of 2021, Bolt and Bennett announced the births of twin sons, Saint Leo and Thunder Bolt, according to NBC Sports.
“Since his retirement in 2017, Bolt’s life has involved making records (he’s a music producer) and raising a family. He and his partner, Kasi Bennett, recently welcomed twins, Saint Leo and Thunder, to their family (they also have a young daughter named Olympia Lightning),” the article said. “He also enjoys a good soccer match (he wants to meet French soccer standout Kylian Mbappé because ‘he’s fast’) and of course a well-run race — especially a distance event such as the 800m.”
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