TOKYO: Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt has revealed that life after retirement has slowed him down in ways he never imagined. The Jamaican sprint legend, who still holds the world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, admitted that even simple daily activities now leave him winded.
Speaking at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the 39-year-old disclosed that a ruptured Achilles injury prevents him from running, forcing him to stick to light gym routines. No, I mostly do gym workouts.
I’m not a fan, but I think now that I’ve been out for a while, I have to actually start running because, when I walk upstairs, I get out of breath, Bolt told reporters.
The track icon, who retired from professional sprinting in 2017, now leads a quieter life centered on family and hobbies.
Normally, I wake up just in time to see the kids off to school. If I have nothing to do, I just chill out, maybe work out if I’m in a good mood, watch some series, and then wait for the kids to come home. I also spend time building Lego, he said with a smile.
Reflecting on the state of global athletics, Bolt insisted that his generation of sprinters possessed a natural edge. You want the real answer? We were just more talented. Of course, it shows when it comes to the men.
The women are running faster times with the new spikes, but for us men back then, it was just talent. He pointed to fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as proof that technology has aided performance in recent years.
Despite his relaxed retirement, Bolt remains at the center of athletics conversations. A recent Puma-sponsored analysis suggested that with today’s super-spikes, he could have run the 100m in an astonishing 9.42 seconds faster than his standing world record of 9.58 seconds set in 2009.
Meanwhile, Jamaican sprinting continues to thrive. Rising stars Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson thrilled fans at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, with Seville storming to a 9.77s victory in the men’s 100m final Jamaica’s first global title in the event since Bolt’s reign.
Although he no longer blazes down the track, Bolt’s influence endures. His reflections on life, talent, and the future of sprinting highlight the humility of a man once seen as invincible. And while he may get out of breath climbing stairs, Usain Bolt remains one of sport’s greatest inspirations.
