“Bolt is a Genius” – IAAF President Likens Bolt to Muhammad Ali
On the eve of his scheduled retirement from the sport of track and field, the world’s fastest man – Usain Bolt has been labelled a genius by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lord Coe.
Coe also likened Bolt’s impact on athletics to that of Muhammad Ali’s in boxing.
He is quoted by the BBC as saying:
“He is the best sprinter of all time….Usain Bolt is a genius. I can’t think, other than Muhammad Ali, of anybody that has so had an impact inside or beyond their sport.”
“You can have the Friday-night-in-the-pub conversations about who is best footballer or tennis player, but there is no argument about this guy in sprinting.”
At the Rio Olympics, Bolt became the first person in history to complete the ‘triple-triple’, after winning gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100m events at three consecutive games.
A few months later, his unprecedented feat of nine gold medals was reduced to eight after his Beijing 2008 4x100m teammate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance in retroactive testing.
Coe also stated:
“We are not going to replace Usain Bolt – not because you are not going to have a trophy cabinet full of three back-to-back Olympic doubles and relays and World Championships – you are just not going to replace him because his personality dominated not just our sport but pretty much every sport out there.”
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