Remarkable as a youth, Usain dazzled the world in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with world record runs in the 100 and 200 earning him gold medals. World Junior 200 metre champion at only 15, the William Knibb Memorial High School graduate matched and broke the world junior record before he was 18, becoming the first under 20 athlete to run 200 metres faster than 20 seconds.
Injury affected his running at the 2004 Olympics but since then he has steadily improved. In 2007, he broke Donald Quarrie’s long standing Jamaican record and placed second at the World Championships.
This son of the parish of Trelawny was even better in 2008. In his first season campaigning in the 100 metres, he lowered the world record twice to 9.72 seconds in New York and to 9.69 to win the gold in Beijing. In the 200, Bolt shaved 0.02 off the World and Olympic record of 19.32, with enough left to assist Jamaica to a world record in the 4x100 for men.
Others like Jesse Owens, Bobby Morrow and Carl Lewis had done the Olympic sprint triple but not with three world records.