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The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt, by Usain Bolt and Shaun Custis: Bolt's plan to run 100m in just 9.4 seconds

TRENDING.... Usain Bolt


Usain Bolt will be nearly 30 by the time the next Olympics come round yet it would be unwise to discount him as a contender for at least the 200-metre gold.  He may be giving four years to Jamaican rivals Yohan Blake and Warren Weir but the 200m is the event he favours most and he could decide to double up the 200m with the 400m.

 Amazingly, however, he still thinks he can improve on his 9.58 second world record for 100m, as he explained to Sun journalist Shaun Custis, with whom he has been working on a new autobiography, due out soon.

He tells Custis that his 9.58sec run in the 2009 World Championships in Berlin was a flawed performance on three counts, undermined by a drive phase at the start that was too short and a middle phase in which he was too tight. He also reckoned he did not keep his head still enough.

Bolt's belief is that he could cut a scarcely credible 0.18 seconds off that time and reset the record at 9.4 seconds, although he does not feel it possible for anyone -- himself included -- to go below that mark. "It is impossible to run 9.2," he says. "The body is not made to go that fast no matter how hard you train, no matter how good your technique."

The book is a celebration of Bolt's influences, background, and the continuing upward trajectory of his career. It tells the story of the kid from the Jamaican parish of Trelawny -- home to a host of Olympic athletes -- who grew up playing cricket and soccer before discovering how fast he could run.

Bolt shares stories of his family and friends and the laidback Jamaican culture. He tells of the motivating factors that helped him reach the top and of the dedication and sacrifices behind his showman image.

Look out for: The Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt (Sports Publishing).

In the meantime...

Why not try an excellent biography of Usain Bolt written by award-winning athletics writer Steven Downes, published ahead of the games by specialist publishers SportsBooks.

Downes was told to keep an eye out for Bolt as long ago as 2003 when the gangly Jamaican won the 200m at the world youth championships in a record time and has followed his career ever since.

It is a fascinating life story that explains how Bolt’s destiny was changed when his time for the 100m at a minor meeting in Crete in 2007 convinced him that the financial rewards being accrued by his compatriot, the then 100m world champion Asafa Powell, could be at his command, too.  Now Bolt is a box office draw like none ever seen.

Usain Bolt: The Story of the World's Fastest Man (SportsBooks).

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