Readers of the world renowned athletics magazine, Athletics Weekly, have selected Usain Bolt as the greatest athlete of the past 75 years. They placed Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce third among the women.

Notwithstanding the presence of athletes like Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, two of the world’s fastest men, 100 and 200m world-record holder Usain Bolt does not believe his records are under threat.

Usain Bolt believes Juventus and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is "definitely" quicker than him.

Bolt retired from athletics in 2017 but the eight-time Olympic gold medallist still holds the world records over 100 and 200 metres.

The 34-year-old clocked a world-record time of 9.58 seconds in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, while he also ran 200m in 19.19s 11 years ago in the German city.

But Bolt feels five-time Ballon d'Or winner and footballer Ronaldo is faster.

"For sure Cristiano [is faster than me]," Manchester United fan Bolt, who also tried to forge a career in football post-athletics following trials with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and A-League side Central Coast Mariners, told Marca Sport Weekend.

"For me he works out every day, he is a super athlete.

"He always on top of his game, he works hard and he is focussed. Right now I definitely think he would be faster than me."

Ronaldo has scored six goals in four Serie A appearances for Juventus this season, while the 35-year-old netted in Portugal's 7-0 friendly rout of Andorra on Wednesday.

After bursting onto the scene at Sporting CP, Ronaldo spent six years at United, where he won three Premier League titles and the Champions League among other honours.

Ronaldo left United for Real Madrid in 2009, having scored 118 goals for the Red Devils across all competitions.

In the Spanish capital, Ronaldo became Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer with 450 – 311 of those coming in LaLiga.

Ronaldo claimed four Champions League crowns, a pair of LaLiga trophies, three Club World Cup honours and two UEFA Super Cups among other silverware before joining Juventus in 2018.

In Turin, Ronaldo already has 71 goals and two Serie A trophies to his name amid speculation he could depart for Paris Saint-Germain or United.

Olympian Donald Quarrie believes the current administration of the Jamaica Administrative Athletic Association (JAAA) has been stagnant for too long and there is an urgent need for change if Jamaica’s track and field is to avoid falling behind the rest of the world.

Quarrie, 69, is campaigning to become the next president of the association when votes are cast at the JAAA Annual General Meeting in late November. Incumbent president Dr. Warren Blake has said that he will not seek re-election and General Secretary Garth Gayle is said to be favoured to replace him.

That has not gone down well with Quarrie, who believes it is time for change.

“It’s the same people who are going to be in. The same deck of cards, only shuffled a different way,” the six-time Commonwealth champion said, indicating that the current torpidity is proving to be detrimental to Jamaican athletics.

An indication of the stagnation, Quarrie said, was the JAAA’s inability to capitalize on the success eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, when he was at the peak of his powers.

“It’s not even about taking advantage, we didn’t know how,” Quarrie declared on Saturday during an interview on Sportsnation Live on Nationwide Radio in Kingston.

“We didn’t have the personnel to do it.”

Quarrie revealed that there was a plan was in place to capitalize on the remarkable success Jamaica was experiencing just over a decade ago when athletes like Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Yohan Blake, were the best in the world in what was arguably the most dominant period of the country’s track and field history.

However, that plan died along with then president Howard Aris.

“I was on the board up to 2011 after Howard passed. At that period there was a move to do so but Howard passed. After that, everything stood still and we never reached out to get the experts who could market the association, experts who could guide us,” the 1976 Olympic champion said.

“Instead, we were holding to something that had great value but we couldn’t see it and we didn’t capitalize on it. That is why we are in the position we are now.”

Quarrie said his love and dedication to Jamaica’s athletics is what has motivated him to try and make a difference.

Despite enjoying an outstanding 2020 track season World 400m hurdles champion, Karsten Warholm does not believe he is the man to replace Usain Bolt as the face of track and field. In fact, he believes no one can.

The 24-year-old Warholm came incredibly close to Kevin Young’s world record of 46.78 set back in 1992, when he ran 46.87, a European record, at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm in August.

Warholm also became the first athlete to run 47.10 or faster over the 400m hurdles multiple times during the course of a single season. He did it four times.

His remarkable performances made him the standout star in 2020 as every time he raced fans expected him to challenge or break the world record.

During a recent chat on Instagram Live with Olympian and athletics broadcaster Ato Boldon, Warholm was asked he if was ready to assume the mantle of the man to replace Usain Bolt. Achieving that, he said, would be impossible.

"When Usain Bolt came into the sport, he didn't have anyone right before him that... He didn't have any shoes to fill at that point,” he said.

"Now everybody talks about who's going to be the next Usain Bolt. Nobody is going to be the next Usain Bolt! Nobody is going to be the next Ato Boldon either.

"I think everybody's got to find their own way, Usain Bolt was huge so it's an honour just being compared to him but for me it's always been about developing.

"I don't want to build myself up as the face of the sport or the next Usain because for me it's about the running. If what comes with it is that people get inspired by what I'm doing, then I think that's great."

 Left alone to die, deep in the bushes of Falmouth, Trelawny, a former racehorse recently renamed George or Usain Bolt was rescued from certain death by a young woman who refused to turn a blind eye to the animal’s suffering.

 These days he receives plenty of love and care from his new owner, Julie, but a battle with cellulitis in one of his legs continues to put the animal’s life and health at risk.

The plight of the noble equine, however, speaks to larger issues, which we should be flushed with shame to ignore.  Firstly, we must ask the obvious question, how can we in good conscience allow such gentle creatures to be used and discarded in such a manner? But secondly, there clearly needs to be an inquiry into circumstances that have reportedly led to an increase in these life-threatening leg injuries at the island’s major racetrack, Caymanas Park, which makes it more likely for animals to end up in this or similar circumstances.

The disease afflicting George stems from a bacterial infection of the soft connective tissues under the skin, and it causes sudden, extreme swelling in the affected area—often in a leg. The disease is fairly common in horses, but on a recent occasion, George's leg had tripled in size overnight, which was terrifying especially because it causes lameness.

Lameness and infections can also be caused by a fracture in a horse’s leg.  Earlier this year former member of parliament and noted veterinarian Dr St Aubyn Bartlett called for a forensic audit into what he believed was a concerning increase in the number of leg fractures suffered by animals at Caymanas.

“We have to go right around, because I don’t think it is a matter of necessarily the track surface, but our track surface could have some impact,” Bartlett told the Gleaner in January.

 In a recent piece published in August 2020 titled, ‘Work to be done on Caymanas track’ Chairman of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), Solomon Sharpe, explained that the surface at the facility was, at the moment, overdue to be repaired. 

According to Sharp the surface was typically repaired every six months, but the COVID-19 pandemic, the unavailability of equipment and other factors had led to a delay in the process.  In the same piece, Anthony ‘Baba’ Nunes a champion trainer, however, opined that grading should ideally be done 'almost every two to three weeks'.

While there is yet to be an established correlation, it seems more consistent repairs would remove a potentially causative factor from the equation and could lead to fewer instances where animals are put down or abandoned.  As for George, he remains far from out of the woods.

The Montego Bay Animal Haven recently thanked Dr. Sophia Ramlal, a veterinary surgeon for over 20 years, who ensures the wellbeing of the horses at Caymanas, for helping the stricken George.

“This is the sad, but very real story about a lot of racehorses [but] his is different because a young lady found him. Way up in the bush, way off the beaten track, and she called me, begging for help,” the non-profit organisation said.

He has been battling the infection for a year now.  Some days are good and others are far from it. Inaccessible medication plus the lack of knowledge about the disease is preventing him from completely recovering. The Montego Bay Animal Haven said in a recent, touching post, “last night he was rushed off to @watessporthorses [Wates Sport Horses] where I promise you, if they hadn’t come, he would be in horse heaven by now.”

“We just don’t have the facilities or honestly, the knowledge to handle this. The same young lady who found him looks after and feeds him every day, rushed off at silly o’clock this morning, through a storm, pouring rain, to meet @hiprosupercentre [Hi-Pro Supercentre] in Kingston, three hours away, to get the meds needed to keep him alive.”

 The recent update  encouraged donations for George at https://www.montegobayanimalhaven.com/donate but says though he is receiving great care from Dr. Denise Cole and Dr. Sophia Ramlal, they are “not sure he will make it.”

Please share your thoughts on Twitter (@SportsMax_Carib) or in the comments section on Facebook (@SportsMax). Don’t forget to use #IAmNotAFan. Until next time!

Correction

SportsMax.tv would like to apologise for wrongly attributing quotes in the previous version of this article to Chairman of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), Solomon Sharpe.  We deeply regret the error and any harm that may have resulted.

We would also like to categorically state that it was not our intention to suggest a direct correlation between the state of the surface at the Caymanas racetrack and equine injury. 

We accept that the issue is complex and multi-faceted and merely intended it to be analytically viewed as part of a long list of potential factors that could be at the centre of the issue.

Jamaica international Leon Bailey is set to miss the start of pre-season training for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, after being faced with self-isolation orders due to possible exposure to the coronavirus.

The 23-year-old winger was among several prominent Jamaican sports stars in attendance at a birthday part for track and field legend Usain Bolt.  In short clips of the event posted to various social media outlets none of the athletes seemed to be practicing social distancing or donning masks.

Questions were also raised as to whether several of the players in attendance were not in violation of the two-week mandatory quarantine regulation required for those entering the country.  Jamaica has had a recent surge in COVID cases.

On Monday, Bolt tested positive for the coronavirus forcing others at the party to isolate this week.  On Thursday Leverkusen announced that the player was stopped from leaving the island by local authorities, who insisted the player observe the quarantine period.

The club is expected to begin testing players for preseason camp on Friday, with players requiring two negative tests before joining up with the squad.

Bailey will now not return to Germany until before their first competitive match of the season in a German Cup clash against minor league club Eintracht Norderstedt on September 13.

Athletics legend Usain Bolt should be held responsible for his behaviour after he tested positive for COVID-19, days after he was spotted with patrons sans social distancing and masks, for his surprise birthday party.

West Indies T20 star Chris Gayle is free to join the Kings XI Punjab training camp, ahead of the new IPL season, after twice testing negative for the coronavirus.

The 41-year-old may have had cause for concern after reports suggested that he attended the celebrity-filled birthday party of sprint star Usain Bolt last week.  Bolt tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday.

"Couple days ago. 1st COVID-19 test...Before travel I need 2 negative test," Gayle's Instagram feed read. In another post, he wrote, "The last one went a bit too far in my nose. Phew. Result was negative."

"I'm going to stay home for 2020... not gonna travel again...nah sah! Tan a mi yard!! Keep the change! Excuse me!" he added.

The player will, however, be subject to more testing once he arrives in the UAE, where the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be staged this year.

On arrival, Gayle will receive a test at the airport, followed by six days of isolation.  During that period, he will be tested on days one, three and five.  Players and all personnel that will be part of this year’s competition must be cleared before they can enter the biosecure bubble.  Gayle had been expected to take part in this season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he would have represented the St Lucia Zouks, but opted out of the competition.

Usain Bolt says he has not confirmed that he has COVID-19 but is in self-imposed quarantine until his test results are back.

Nationwide News reported on Monday that the eight-time Olympic gold medallist had tested positive for the Coronavirus. The news, NNN said, triggered a host of his associates and friends including football players Raheem Sterling, Leon Bailey and recording artiste Chris Martin being tested for the virus as they were in attendance at his birthday party last Friday, August 21. 

However, in a 50-second video posted on Twitter, Bolt said he heard the news regarding his positive test like everybody else; on social media despite reports that indicate that he was notified by health officials on Sunday.

“I did a test on Saturday to leave because I have work,” he said.

“Trying to be responsible so I am going to stay in and stay away from my friends and also, having no symptoms, going to quarantine myself and wait on the confirmation to see what is the protocol and how I should go about quarantining myself from Ministry of Health.”

Meantime, he is encouraging those who might have come into contact with him to be safe and enter quarantine.

More than 1500 Jamaicans have been confirmed to be infected by the virus. 116 Jamaicans were confirmed over a 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday.

Olympic legend Usain Bolt has reportedly been infected by the COVID-19 virus, according to media reports.

Nationwide radio reported on Monday that the now-retired 100m and 200m world record holder had tested positive for the virus.

Bolt, who celebrated his 34^th birthday last Friday, is among the latest numbers of Jamaicans to have tested positive to the virus that has infected more than 1500 Jamaicans to date. Fifteen of those infected have died.

I have scoliosis. Constant stinging sensations, unintentional bad posture and stares from strangers that slowly leads to dwindling confidence are just some of its effects. Luckily the greatest sprinter of all time, Usain Bolt helped me.

I was diagnosed in 2010. My type of scoliosis is called idiopathic scoliosis.

Doctors don’t know the exact reason for a curved spine and so I don’t have all the answers.

It's frustrating.

Still, I had no choice but to live with it and reduce some of its effects. I started with the physical ones; my curved spine, uneven shoulders etc. My doctor, at the time, suggested I get a back brace. I did. People with scoliosis get a brace to restrict further curvature of the spine. A brace does not correct the curve at all, surgery does that.

While my bulky brace prevented my curve from getting worse, the attention it brought lessened my confidence.

People were rude. Especially when I wore my brace outside of my clothes to reduce the impressions and bruises it left on my skin after long hours of wearing it (I was allowed to remove my brace for showers only).

However, there were others who were genuine and encouraging. On some random day a curious man asked me about my back brace. I told him the basics and he replied, “do you know who also has scoliosis? Usain Bolt!”

According to Bolt’s autobiography, ‘Faster Than Lightning Bolt’, scoliosis curved his spine to the right and made his right leg half an inch shorter than his left.

Research studies were conducted to examine it more closely. Researchers are eager to know if his scoliosis works for, or against him in races.

An article published on July 2017 in the New York Times headlined, ‘Something Strange in Usain Bolt’s Stride’ said, “shortly after Bolt retires, the Southern Methodist University (S.M.U.) researchers hope to persuade him to visit their lab for more direct testing on a treadmill.”

The last thing on my mind was believing that Bolt could be a guinea pig. Instead, I thought about the hope that his exceptional performances gave me in spite of having scoliosis.

Happy 34th Birthday Bolt. Overcoming the emotional effects of scoliosis seemed nearly impossible until I witnessed your fearlessness.

I owe you a big thank you!

Please share your thoughts on Twitter (@SportsMax_Carib) or in the comments section on Facebook (@SportsMax). Don’t forget to use #IAmNotAFan. Until next time!

It’s difficult for our voices to be heard and our stories to be told around the world when one resides on an island in the West Indies.

It comes with the territory of being the smallest in the room. Other nations puff out their chest and roar, and because of that noise, our expressions are akin to squeaks. What is lost in all that noise? Truth.

American sport is huge! They’ve made it so. We have bought into the hype that a U.S. city can win a national basketball title, labelled ‘World Champions’. Incredible.

And we’ve also fallen into the trap of using American analogies to bring home a point. For e.g., the headline for this opinion piece.

However, it has become the language we speak when we try to make reference to something monumental. Pardon my use, this one time.

Who are some of the greatest athletes of all time?

Some names come into the discussion right away. Pele, Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Garfield Sobers and Tom Brady would be some of the names listed. And immediately your brain fires off names which should have been listed.

In 2012, Usain Bolt said he wanted to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, to be mentioned with the likes of Ali and Jordan. He felt that defending his Olympic sprint double in London would go a far way in making that case. And of course, Bolt went on to do just that and more.

In 2016, he went further into unchartered waters by becoming a sprint double champion at the Olympics for the third consecutive time. Bolt was the most dominant force in the sport of track and field from 2008 to 2016. And many would argue that, that was athletics greatest era, not only because of the Jamaican but because of his competitors.

Another great Jamaican athlete Yohan Blake, despite the ridicule he received by many on his island home, was correct. He, as well as the rest of the world’s best athletes, were overshadowed during that time. Blake is the second fastest over 200 metres at 19.26 seconds. He is also the joint second-fastest over 100 metres at 9.69 seconds. His lone individual world title came in the aftermath of a shocking Bolt false start in 2011.

The phenomenal American sprinter Tyson Gay was born in the wrong era too. He holds the American 100-metre record of 9.69 seconds. The previous American record of 9.71 seconds was set at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009, and by all indication should have been good enough to win gold … except, Bolt ran 9.58 in the same race.

Overshadowed.

When Bolt was young, we all thought he would’ve been remarkable at the 200 metres and the excitement would have been amplified when he became the youngest ever male winner at the World Junior Championships at 15 years and 332 days, back in 2002 in Kingston.

The fact that his foray into the 100 metres began as a light-hearted moment with his coach Glen Mills seems so preposterous now. It’s all part of the folklore. It’s all forged in history.

We speak of Usain Bolt as if he is an old man, but he turns 34 on Friday, August 21. I remember interviewing him on the telephone upon his return from Osaka in 2007 where he finished second in the 200 metres behind Tyson Gay. I was one year his senior, and I was able to relate to his unbridled joy and sense of relief that he finally made an impact on the world stage. That silver medal is almost like a footnote now.

What are the traits an all-time great athlete should have?

They should have been the best in their sport over a sustained period of time (which is the lowest denominator). They should have statistics, records and titles or championships to back their claim. And they should also be transcendent. How did they impact the sport or change the game?

Who else has dominated their sport to the degree which Bolt has done in what was supposed to have been a competitive era? The American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most successful Olympian of all time with 28 medals, including a record 23 gold, is the first athlete who comes to mind. He was the most successful Olympian for four straight Games. He had set 29 individual records in the pool, and he presently holds on to one.

Muhammad Ali also comes to mind. He had a larger-than-life persona in and out of the ring. He was arrogant enough to think he could beat the likes of Sonny Liston and George Foreman… and he did. But he also lifted up his race, which was his biggest fight. He utilised his voice against injustice in ways we hadn’t seen before or since.

It is difficult to gauge the impact of team players. However, Pele stands out for winning three World Cups over the span of 12 years. And Michael Jordan revolutionized basketball and made it global so much so, everyone wanted to be “like Mike”. Thanks, Gatorade.

And of course Tiger Woods. As far as the eye test is concerned, is the best many have ever seen. However, in a sport which is singular in nature, the fact he is still 3 majors behind Jack Nicklaus (18) puts an asterisk beside his name, for now.

Notable Mention

Notable mention must be made of “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky who has been regarded as the greatest ice hockey player of all time. He has 61 NHL records, but he doesn’t have an Olympic medal.

We see you fam… we see you.

It is reasonable to assume, running, is the oldest sport known to man. There is some evidence based on drawings in caves in 3000 BC that wrestling was also right up there as one of the ancient pastimes. However, when stripped to the bare bones, for hundreds and hundreds of years, the best athlete was considered to be the one who could run.

Archery, Swimming, Boxing and even Hockey are all considered ancient sports.

Bolt deserves his place with the elite. And any serious sporting discussion, even the ones in the United States of America, should show the Jamaican the respect he deserves.

Bolt, Phelps, Ali and Pele are on my Mount Rushmore.

Donald Oliver is a football and cricket commentator and a senior producer at SportsMax. Learn more about him at www.thedonaldoliver.com or email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Usain Bolt earned our undying admiration for his marvellous exploits on the track, but it was always clear, to be honest, that fumbling, bumbling, tumbling escapes on the football pitch, would never amount to anything more than a glorified publicity stunt.

When fabled American sportscaster Charley Steiner quoted the famous line, uttered by Clint Eastwood’s iconic character Dirty Harry, ‘Sometimes a man’s got to know his limitations,’ he referred to another track and field legend, Carl Lewis, butchering the United States national anthem with all the ruthless efficacy of Sweeney Todd. 

The laborious months of Bolt’s campaign to become a professional footballer may not have caused us to splutter uncontrollably with ceaseless bouts of irrepressible laughter, as Lewis’ spectacular failure did, mind you, what we saw were Bolt’s best parts, but the sentiment should be the same, everyone has limits.

Shockingly, however, it seems the lesson has been lost on the decorated runner and his recent comments about not being given a fair chance to play football, tell us as much.

Based on what I saw, and if there is better footage, I am eager to see it, it’s hard to justify the sprinter being given a trial anywhere at all where serious football is played.

On one level, it’s completely understandable that unshakable self-belief is a key part of the mindset of any great athlete. 

When Michael Jordan tossed aside the basketball and stood, bat in hand, in front of the mirror, he saw Jackie Robinson. When Carl Lewis decided to trade the relay baton for a mic, he likely glanced over to see Lionel Richie looking back, before committing an unforgiving and merciless verbal assault.  The shimmering reflection Bolt cast after putting down his spikes and picking up cleats was, Wayne Rooney, a player whom he astonishingly believed was at the same talent level.

What is less understandable, however, is that three years after retirement and at least two after the professional football fiasco, the world record holder believes that his lack of success was down to a lack of opportunity.  It’s time to be honest, Usain, it was down to a glaring and obvious lack of ability.

Football is a very easy sport to watch, easy to love, easy to have strong opinions about.  Some of us even believe it easy to play in our weekly treks to weekend scrimmage games. 

The images we see when we stand proudly in front of the mirror, before heading to our own local battlefields are varied and endless.  Many of us are Lionel Messi’s, Cristiano Ronaldo’s, Jamie Vardy’s, Karim Benzema’s, and even Zinedine Zidane’s. If you really think about it though, playing well, let alone playing well enough to be a professional at the highest level, is another thing entirely.

With the rare exception, the very best exponents of the beautiful game spend the tender years of their lives ceaselessly honing their craft, and even then, on many occasions, find themselves well short of making the professional-grade. 

How likely was it that Bolt, then a 31-year-old athlete, who never even played the highest level of high school or primary school football, would decide to take up the sport professionally after a few scrimmage games and make the grade?  His only qualifier for getting a trial was that he held track and field sprint records. Fantastic records, mind you, but that is a remarkably clear case of comparing apples to oranges. 

Come to think of it, the situation sounds rather ridiculous when you spell it out loud, doesn’t it?

Well lest anyone out there harbour any illusions, it only sounds that way because the whole thing was.

as he struggled to

In many respects Bolt and another track and field legend

Bolt trippinCharkg over a football not as funny but breathtaking lack of aweness on limitations certainly in the same ballpark is just as not given chance ridiculous.  Football for year of training Bolt decided to pick it up as a professional at 31 declaring better than Wayne Rooney

Beyond this Bolt now claims not given chance

It’s been a week. Seven days or more than 10, 080 minutes since Michael Norman of the USA dropped a personal best of 9.86s at the AP Ranch High-Performance Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was an amazing performance by Norman, especially considering that he is a quarter-miler. It is even more amazing when you realize that Norman last ran a 100m in April 16, 2016, four years and three months ago.

Now, these observations are not to cast any doubts about the legitimacy of Norman’s time. In fact, I celebrate it. I like seeing new talent emerge; new exciting talent like Norman who many believe could be the man to break the 43-second barrier in the 400m.

I made the observation because over the past week I was waiting for one Carl Lewis to say whether he believes the time is suspicious because Norman’s previous best was 0.41 seconds slower than the time he ran in Texas last week Monday.

About 12 years ago, another talented sprinter that goes by the name of Usain Bolt secured the first of eight Olympic gold medals when he won the blue-ribbon sprint in Beijing in an astounding 9.69s. Lewis was quick to try to discredit Bolt’s achievement.

“…For someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool. Period,” Lewis told Sports Illustrated magazine in 2008.

Back when Bolt dropped his 9.69 world record during the Beijing, Olympics, he had managed to shave 0.34 seconds off his previous personal best. If my memory serves me, he clocked 10.03 at GC Foster and then a couple of weeks later, he lowered his personal best to 9.76s at the Jamaica Invitational at the National Stadium in May that year.

He would run a 9.94 in Trinidad before heading to New York where he lowered his PB to 9.72, a new world record. He then shaved a further 0.03s off while winning in Beijing.

Like Norman, Bolt was a 200/400m man before he attempted the 100m. Before Bolt had transitioned from the junior ranks, he had run a World U20 200m record of 19.93 that still stands today. That was 2004. Since that time, Bolt had season-best times of 19.99 in 2005, 19.88 in 2006, and 19.75 in 2007;  time that indicated that by the time 2008 rolled around, Bolt was already capable of breaking 10 seconds.

Norman ran 19.70 in July 2019, while defeating Noah Lyles in an epic battle at the Diamond League meeting in Rome, 43.45 to open in 2019 as well as 43.61 while winning the NCAA Division 1 title for USC in 2018. Like with Bolt, the times suggest that Norman was already capable of breaking 10 seconds over the 100m.

So, to me, when Norman shaved a whopping 0.41 seconds off his previous best when he ran that 100m in Texas last week, it really wasn’t a surprise. However, we are still waiting to hear something from Lewis whether or not we are all fools not to suspect the young American.

That to me is where Lewis’ ignorance and hypocrisy are exposed.

To people like Lewis, the factors that lead to Bolt’s fast times were never taken into consideration. In his mind, someone like Bolt from a Third World country like Jamaica could not possibly run as fast without some kind of pharmaceutical assistance.

His silence now since Norman’s amazing run lays bare his true motivations when he spoke with Sports Illustrated 12 years ago.