Usain Bolt To Retire In 2017: Will He Take Up Football?

Jamaican Sprinter and fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, has announced that he will retire at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. Usain Bolt has revealed that he plans to retire in glory declaring that he “wants to be remembered as one of the greatest.”

In an exclusive with the Daily Mail, Bolt spoke about his legacy, plans, and his beloved boyhood soccer team, Manchester United. Usain Bolt is arguably one of the most recognizable faces in the world of sport however, the Jamaican athlete is reportedly focused on achieving greatness on the track rather than off it.

Bolt revealed that he planned to retire at next years’ Olympics however, his sponsors, Puma, had other ideas.

“That was the initial plan (to sign off after Rio). But my sponsor has asked me to go on for another year; to 2017 and London. But I’ll be doing one event, the 100. I’ve already discussed it with my coach. I can concentrate on that, and on retiring on a winning note.”

Usain Bolt has been in the spotlight since the age of 17 ever since he set a world junior record of 19.93 seconds at the 2004 Carifta Games in Hamilton, Bermuda.

At the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win the 100m and 200m races in world-record times. He then did the same in the 4 x 100m relay. In 2009, he lowered his 100m record from 9.69 to 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin. It is yet to be beaten.

Despite that, Bolt believes he still has more to prove.

“My main aim now is to stay injury free this season so I go into Rio in peak form at my best. Because in the past I’ve suffered these (injury) setbacks.”

When asked about the three greatest sportsmen of all time, Bolt named Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Michael Johnson. His ambition is firmly fixed on breaking into that illustrious group.

“That would be awesome. That’s what I work for. Over the years I have said I want to become a legend. I want to be remembered as one of the greatest sportsmen ever.”

There are still no concrete plans after retiring from track and field. In his youth, Bolt had dreamed of becoming a cricketer. In the past, rumors floated around that he may have been the target of the NFL but a dream move to his boyhood team Manchester United might be too tempting to reject.

However, following the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, Bolt is not so optimistic.

“I always wanted to play for Alex Ferguson but he’s retired now. I’d play as a winger, definitely a winger. A left-footed winger.”

“I was thinking about football,” he says. “But I did a shoot with Aguero, in all the kit. It wasn’t even snowing but it was so cold. I was like “you can’t do this; it’s ridiculous”.

Can Usain Bolt become the greatest athlete of all time?

[Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images]