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Jamaican sprinterUsain Boltshot to global superstardom after his dead insane100 m finishandtwo other stupefying gold - medal performancesat the 2008 Beijing Olympics , and he currently fend as one of those rare keep legends who overstep his sportswoman . Much of his fame can be chalked up to his gold - decoration count ( seven , after also sweep the sprint at the 2012 London Games andwinning another goldin 100 m in Rio ) and the human beings tape he holds ( the 100 m , 200 m , and 4 x 100 m relay ) , but do n’t forget about thatfamous pose .
Unsurprisingly , Bolt competes at what is probable to behis final Olympicsas the favorite to three - peat in all his events – and you probably should n’t bet against him . Below , a close look at the fastest man active , who befittingly turn 30 on August 21st , the same day we entreat adieu to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio .
Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
1. He ate roughly 1,000 chicken nuggets in Beijing
Inhis 2013 memoir , Faster Than Lightning , Bolt speak about encountering veritable Formosan food for thought for the first time at the Beijing Games . The forgetful version : the dishes did n’t agree with him . He found salvation in chicken nugget , average about 100 nugget per day during his 10 days there . Despite all the junk food , he still won three gold medals – and a little later , an offering fromShutlfor a lifetime ’s supply of hisnew favorite food– so it should n’t be lurid that he still falls back on nugget when he ’s in a place with an unfamiliar culinary art .
2. His first trainer was his dog
Growing up in the small Jamaican village of Coxheath , a young Bolt used his firedog as a warning system . " When I sneak out of the theatre [ to encounter at my friend ’s ] I would always take Brownie , " he wrote inFaster Than Lightning . " The mo Pop ’s wheel came rumbling home , Brownie ’s ears would cock up up long before anyone else could hear a noise . As soon as that dog made to go away , I knew it was my pool cue to move [ back home ] . In a fashion , he was giving me a taste of what life would be like in the futurity : listen for the accelerator pedal … Bang ! Pop the blocks ! Run ! "
3. He caused an airport evacuation
On his way to win the 100 meters in Rio , Bolt seeminglysmiled for the cameraas he reached the semifinal finish line . Definitely not smile ? Anyone at New York City ’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in the hours surveil the finals . Thegoing explanationfor why airdrome security measure evacuate two pole while investigating whether shot had been fired at JFK is that fans watching Bolt ’s performance had celebrate his triumph by clapping a petty too expansively .
4. Segways hate him
It turns out you may take Bolt down on the data track , but only if you ’re a Segway - riding cinematographer , as seen at last yr ’s World Athletics Championships . Paul Blartthis lensman is not .
5. He can’t go the distance
The New Yorkerrecentlysurveyeda few experts to approximate whether Bolt could notch a ripe mil metre . Opinions varied . Notably , a former college bad-tempered - country four-in-hand vote no , citing the Olympian ’s fast - twitching muscle fibers as a downside . More notably , Bolt ’s broker , Ricky Simms , emailed in to say , " Usain has never run a mile . "
6. He has had a near-death experience
As Bolt wrote in his autobiography , he and a match friends were joyride around in his BMW M3 Coupe in April 2009 when the fomite flipped three time across a Jamaican highway . " I grip that channelise bike heavily , " Bolt compose . The railroad car bring upside down in a ditch . Somehow , he and his admirer emerged largely unharmed , butthe incidentchanged Bolt ’s sentiment on lifespan . " My centre had been opened , " he wrote , " I had God in my corner , and He had put me on this world to run –and faster than any athlete , ever . "
7. He adopted a cheetah
8. He is faster than a bus
Bolt might be slow than the humans ’s degenerate animal , but at least we know he could catch up to a moving passenger vehicle if he were a few irregular deep . For reasons that make very picayune sense , Bolt square off against a metropolis busin Buenos Aires , Argentina . Bolt dominated .
9. His height is supposed to be adisadvantage
At 6 - foot-5 , you might think Bolt ’s height would serve him unravel quicker . But improbable sprinter typically have trouble reset their centers of gravity when they come off the starting blocks in short race like the 100 m. And there ’s another reason Bolt hasnever been the honest crank . " Being 6 - foot-5 - column inch marvelous have in mind he should n’t be able to accelerate at the speed he does founder the length of his legs , " former sprinter Craig Pickeringexplainedto the BBC last twelvemonth . " At the beginning of a race you desire to take light whole tone to speed up , [ but Bolt is ] so marvellous he ca n’t do that . "
Bolt ’s power and stridesareadvantageous , though , once he builds momentum . He routinely reaches a top speed around 28 miles per hour , and his prospicient legs allow him to complete the 100 m in 40 to 41 steps versus the 44 to 45 his opponents involve . The disconnect of seeing Bolt dawdle at the beginning of the race only to pull away from the pack near the end is part of the pleasure of watching him prevail .
10. But his height also allows him to dunk
Like he did in the 2013 NBA All - Star Celebrity Game . Theseare short steps .
11. He tried a SoCal accent in aSaturday Night Livesketch
Just take the 2 North to the 134 East to the 210 West and thenclick this linkand , whoa , you ’re there !
12. He drove a crappy car pretty nicely on TV
In 2009 , when Jeremy Clarkson was still over atTop Gear , Bolt visited to chat about racing with unfettered laces , nap before win , and eating all those nugs . The contrabandist also participate as a " Star in a Reasonably price Car , " channeling his inner Michael Schumacher and rive a four - doorway Chevrolet around the BBC show ’s track for an telling sentence of one minute and 46.5 seconds . ( find out here . )
13. He sometimes drives barefoot
World - class sprinters – they ’re just like us ! ( If you do this , too , I guess . )
14. There will be a new movie about him
Bolt has already been the subject of documentaries for film and TV , but a young project centered on Rio is " coming soon . " TitledI Am Bolt , the picture looks to spill more light source on the Olympian ’s training and downtime .
15. He’s obsessed withCall of Duty
A consecrate thespian , BolttoldFHMa few years ago that he ’s ineffectual to pass asleep without someCODaction first . " If I lived in Europe , I ’d shut the curtains , playCall of Dutyon my PlayStation , 24/7 , and never go out , " he said in a 2012Runner ’s Worldinterview . He ’ll even stargaze about the game before a race to calm his nerves .
16. He was born with scoliosis
In 2004 , Bolt was belatedly diagnose with scoliosis , an abnormal curvature of the rachis . " When I was younger it was n’t really a problem,“he toldESPN the Magazinein 2011 . " But you grow and it gets bad . I do n’t have to worry about it as long as I work hard . The early part of my career , when we did n’t really know much about it , it really hampered me because I got wound every yr . " Now , Bolt maintain injury at Laurus nobilis with the help of a masseur , as well as dedication to veritable essence and back workplace - outs .
17. He’s a money magnet, but not from winnings
Forbesclocksthe runner ’s financial haulage at around $ 32.5 million – but more than 90 % of that comes from endorsements . PUMA is reportedly his biggest angel , give him about $ 10 million a year . The world ’s highest - ante up track star , Bolt toppedSportsPro ’s mostmarketable jock listin 2011 , a serious accomplishment for pro runners , who typically support their career by atomic number 28 - and - diming off meets . " The figure we hear is that Bolt takes up 80 percent of all the money in running and field , " US runner Nick SymmondstoldSports Illustratedin 2012 . Makes sense .
18. He owes his success to a box lunch
It was a rector at Bolt ’s primary school who first recognized the prodigy - to - be ’s quick stop number , using a box lunch to cajole him into participating in a school play solar day flair . " A box dejeuner wasThe Real Deal , it came packed with toothsome jerk chicken , roasted sweet white potato , Sir Tim Rice and pea , " Bolt explained in his book . " The thought of a reward got me all excited , as did the rush of step up in a liberal championship . " After he come through , he officially had the competitory germ . ( Watch Gatorade ’s animated reenactment of the storyhere . )
19. He has been immortalized, fittingly, in bolts
Roughly three years ago , the government of Trelawny Parish annunciate it had plan to honour Bolt with a monument of sorts near his hometown . As theJamaica Gleanerreports , thathasn’thappened yet – and Bolt ’s aunt is pissed . ( Maybe positive 2016 resolution will expedite thing ? ) For the meantime , admireDiedel Klöver ’s statueof the blue runner and his pose , made entirely of bolts and screws .
20. He is a fan of Rihanna
A few years ago , Bolt post an Instagram vid of RiRi dancing to T - Pain ’s " Up Down . " Thecaptionmade it well-defined he was a fan . And then : " I ’m in love with you , " he told RihannaviaTMZ not long after . " Hit me up . " She hasnothit him up yet .
21. He cares about your facial hair
Hejust helped launcha company namedChampion Shave , so that men can shave like , well , champions .
22. He hates weed
Bolt accommodate in his book to stress the devil ’s lettuce once , and that was enough . " I became shopworn almost from the second I ’d drawn in the first lungful , " he wrote , have-to doe with to a post - soccer plot hangout sometime around his World Junior mean solar day . " I could distinguish that it was n’t the route for me to go down . First of all because Pops would have stabbed me in the cervix if ever he ’d caught me fooling around like Bob Marley , and secondly because I could tell the clobber would make me in earnest lazy . " That did n’t stop some California dispensaries from naming intersection after him in 2012 , though : " Usain Bolt OG , " or U.B.O.G. , was touted as a fast - acting treat .
23. He knows every word to “Sex on Fire”
After winning at the London 2012 Games , Boltsurpriseda pack PUMA Yard club by jumping in the DJ booth and kicking off a late - night celebration all his own . He has alsoplayeda reggae set in Paris and lead asing - alongto Kings of Leon ’s " Sex on Fire " in Munich . If he snatches up more hardware in Rio , keep your oculus disrobe for repeat behavior .
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