google-site-verification: google1c0c3254b0a96609.html Trending World: London Olympics 2012
Showing posts with label London Olympics 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London Olympics 2012. Show all posts

Sunday, 12 August 2012

Sushil Kumar Wrestling/Wrestler Medals for India Biography Latest News Images/Pics/Videos Wikipedia

Sushil Kumar Wrestling/Wrestler.Sushil Kumar Medals for India.Sushil Kumar Biography.Sushil Kumar Latest News.Sushil Kumar Images/Pics.Sushil Kumar Videos.Sushil Kumar Wikipedia.
                                              "Sushil Kumar Storms into Finals"
Hobbies
In between his busy training schedules he enjoys spending time with his family and sleeping. He also has an interest in cricket and field hockey. (sportskeeda.com, 17 May 2010)
Occupation
Railway Worker
Education
Sports Management - Noida College of Physical Education, India
Language(s) spoken
Hindi
Club name
NIS, Delhi, IND
Coach
Satpal Padamshree, Yashvir Singh (IND) from 1995 (BBC, 06 Apr 2012; deccanherald.com, 09 May 2012)
Sushil Kumar Wrestling/Wrestler Medals for India Biography Latest News Images/Pics/Videos Wikipedia
Sushil Kumar
India's Sushil Kumar reacts after his match against Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan in their 66-kg freestyle wrestling match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, in London.
      India's Sushil Kumar advanced into the Olympic men's 66kg freestyle wrestling final after coming from behind in his last four clash in spectacular style on Sunday. Victory means the 29-year-old, world champion in 2010, is guaranteed to improve on the bronze medal he won at the Beijing Games four years ago.

      Having won the first period against Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan, Kumar saw his semi-final opponent level and then go 3-0 ahead in the third and final period.
But Kumar countered with a hold down initially worth two points, which he converted into a three-point score to tie the match. And with 34 seconds left he'd edged 5-3 in front.
Then, with just seconds of the contest remaining, Kumar sealed victory with a huge throw that saw him dump Tanatarov onto the mat. 
Now he will face Japan's Tatsuhiro Yonemistu in the final later Sunday.
Kumar had a tough start to his London 2012 campaign, beating 2008 gold medallist Ramazan Sahin of Turkey 3-1.
      There are no seedings in Olympic wrestling and the luck of the draw saw Kumar paired against fellow former world champion Sahin in the last 16.
In his quarter-final bout, Kumar overcame Uzbekistan's Ikhtiyor Navruzov, also by a 3-1 margin, after surviving a spirited rally by his opponent with some quick counters and strong lifts.
Kumar, who carried India's flag at the opening ceremony, is now assured of giving his country their second freestyle wrestling medal of this Games after Yogeshwar Dutt won 60kg bronze on Saturday.
Sushil Kumar Wrestling/Wrestler Medals for India Biography Latest News Images/Videos Wikipedia
Sushil Kumar India
Biography:-
      Sushil Kumar Born on May 26, 1983 is an Indian World Champion wrestler who won the gold medal in the 66 kg freestyle competition at the FILA 2010 World Wrestling Championships and a bronze medal in the Men's 66kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Kumar defeated Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan in the repechage round to win the bronze. This was the second medal for India in wrestling, and the first since K D Jadhav's bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. On July 2009, he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - India's highest honour for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Sushil Kumar was the final baton bearer who handed the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles in the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.On 12th August 2012, Sushil Kumar successfully cheated in the Olympic freestyle wrestling -66Kg category semi-final by biting his opponents ear in order to turn him during a 'gut-wrench' manoeuvre. His Kazakh opponent complained to the referee and his ear was subsequently bleeding, but because of FILA rules, the coach of the wrestler is the only one who may challenge a decision.
      Sushil Kumar comes from the village Baprola in South West Delhi. Kumar's father Diwan Singh was a DTC bus driver and mother Kamla Devi a housewife. He was inspired to take up wrestling by his cousin Sandeep and his father who was himself a pehlwan (wrestler). Sandeep quit wrestling as the family could only support one wrestler. Kumar trained at the akhada (wrestling school) in the Chhatrasal Stadium from the age of 14. With minimal funds and poor training facilities for wrestling in India, even for the 2008 Olympic team, his family made sure he obtained the necessary dietary supplements by sending him tinned milk, ghee and vegetables. He was briefly a seller of bad things, a company owned by his father. He is a vegetarian.
 Kumar is presently employed by the Indian Railways as a Assistant Commercial Manager
Sushil Kumar Wrestling/Wrestler Medals India Biography Latest News Images/Pics/Videos Wikipedia
Sushil Kumar Wrestler
Career:-
      Kumar started training at the Chhatrasal Stadium's akhada at the age of 14. Trained at the akhada by Indian pehlwans Yashvir and Ramphal, and later by Arjuna awardee Satpal and then at the Railways camp by coach Gyan Singh, Sushil endured tough training conditions which included sharing a mattress with a fellow wrestler and sharing a dormitory with twenty others at the age of 18 he become state champ.
His first success came at the World Cadet Games in 1998 where he won the gold medal in his weight category. He followed this up with a gold in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000.
Moving out of the junior competition, Sushil Kumar won the bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships in 2003 and followed that up with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. Sushil Kumar placed fourth in the World Championships in 2003, but this went largely unnoticed by the Indian media as he fared badly in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, in the 60 kg class placing 14th. He won gold medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in 2005 and 2007. He ranked seventh in the 2007 World Wrestling Championships and won a bronze medal in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He has also qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics taking place at London. Sushil Kumar was awarded theArjuna Award in 2006.
Beijing Olympics 2012:-
      Out of the field of 21, 11 wrestlers including obtained a bye to the 1/8 round. He lost to Andriy Stadnik from Ukraine in the first round of the 66 kg freestyle wrestling event, leaving his medal hopes hinging on the repechage. Sushil Kumar defeated American Doug Schwab in the first repechage round and Belarusian Albert Batyrov in the second repechage round. In the bronze medal match on 20 August 2008 Kumar beat Spiridonov 3:1, with scores of 2-1, 0-1, 2-0 in the three rounds. Sushil Kumar disclosed that he had no masseur during the three bouts he won within a span of 70 minutes to take the bronze. The team manager Kartar Singh who is a former Asian Games medallist acted as the masseur for him.
London Olympics 2012:-

FLAGBEARER FOR INDIA
      Sushil Kumar entered into the final of 66 Kg Free Style Wrestling by beating Kazakhastan's Akzhurek Tanatarov in the semifinal.Sushil Kumar led the Indian contingent at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games and was India's flag bearer for the London Olympics opening ceremony on July 27.
In an interview, Sushil told The Wall Street Journal that he has been meditating ahead of the 2012 summer games. "While hard work and strategising are important, maintaining a positive frame of mind is far more critical. I’ve also been meditating to remain calm and composed for the games." 
      On 12 August 2012, he won his opening bout against Ramazan Sahin(Turkey), the gold medalist of Beijing 2008 Olympics to reach the quarterfinals of the London Olympics.
Star wrestler Sushil Kumar created history on Sunday as he scripted his name as India’s best-ever individual Olympian by assuring at least a silver medal in the London Olympics by entering the finals of the 66kg class here today.
      Sushil, who had won India’s second bronze in Olympic history at the 2008 Games in Beijing, will meet Japanese Armyman Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the final. The Japanese thrashed Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan 3-0 in the other semi final
After Yogeshwar Dutt’s stellar performance on Saturday to clinch a bronze medal in the 60 kg category, the pin-up boy of Indian wrestling on Sunday fought the best bout of his life as he came from behind to beat Kazakhstan Wrestler Akzurukh Tantarov 3-1 in the semifinal.
The Beijing Games bronze medallist won the first round easily with 3-0 score which included a penalty point. Sushil first used the Iranian technique to get over his opponent and then rolled him over for two points. A head butt by Tantarov assured him another point.
The second round undoubtedly belonged to the 25-year-old Kazakh wrestler as he put Sushil on the mat and tossed him over to get 3-0 clincher.
      When the third round started, the 29-year-old Indian looked tired and jaded as within the first seconds, conceded a 3-0 lead to the Kazakh. The match looked as good as over for Sushil who waited for that one inspirational moment as he caught Tantarov by his leg and pegged him down to make it 3-3 with the vociferous Indian contingent egging him on.
This was followed by a Hercules-like act as he suddenly stood up with the Kazakh hanging on his shoulders. It probably was the defining moment for the Indian contingent’s challenge at the biggest sporting spectacle. An Indian’s show of strength at the world stage.
Sushil Kumar can take a bow as he will now be considered at par with legendary hockey players Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Sr although theirs was a team sport and were part of back-to-back gold medal winning teams.

Awards:-
Arjuna Award, 2008
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award (joint), India's highest sporting honour.2008

Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History Images/Videos

Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics.Usain Bolt Biography.Usain Bolt Records.Usain Bolt 100m.Usain Bolt 200m.Usain Bolt latest News.Usain Bolt Gold Medals.Usain Bolt Olympics/Medals History.Usain Bolt Images.Usain Bolt Videos.
Usain Bolt - Biography:-
    One year Usain returned to the spotlight winning three gold medals and setting two individual world records at the 2009 IAAF World T&F Championships in Berlin, Germany.  He lowered his 100m time to a staggering 9.58 secs, his 200m time to 19.19 secs and running the third leg helped Jamaica to gold in the 4x100m.  He defended his World Championships title in the 200m at the 2011 IAAF World T&F Championships in Daegu, Korea and anchored Jamaica to another world record of 37.04 secs in the 4x100m. Since then he has become a household name and one of the world’s top sports personalities.
While the world danced and celebrated with this precocious talent, this was a dream waiting to happen and not just an overnight sensation.
     As early as age 14, young Usain was opening eyes with his lightning speed from regional championships in western Jamaica to national meets set in Kingston to meets in the wider Caribbean.
Usain’s ascent to the pinnacle of world sprinting started with the most unlikely of events as his first medal at any meet came in the 80 hurdles in Class Three at Western Champs held on the campus of his Alma Mater William Knibb Memorial High in Martha Brae, Trelawny when he ‘jumped’ his way to a bronze medal.
Because he towered above his peers even then, Bolt was also entered in the high jump event and was a promising fast bowler in cricket before been encouraged to channel his energies on the track.
By 2001 Bolt became a known commodity and he sent signals that he would be a world beater in early 2002 when he cruised to a hand timed 20.3 seconds to win the 200m at Western Champs finals at Catherine Hall.
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt 
Usain Bolt Gold Medals @ London 2012:-
  • Men's 100m
  • Men's 200m
  • Men's 4 x 100m Relay
     Later that year he went on to win the 200m/400m double at CARIFTA Trials before winning four gold medals at the meet held in Nassau, Bahamas.
He announced his arrival to the wider global audience in July 2002 when at the IAAF World Junior T&F Championships in Kingston in front of the biggest crowd ever to watch these meets, he won the host nation’s only individual gold medal, winning the 200m in 20.61 seconds.  He left that meet with three medals including two silver medals in the relays, anchoring the 4x100m team and was part of the 4x400m team as well.
That was the start of a meteoric climb to the top that also saw him winning two IAAF Rising Star awards.
It was not always smooth sailing however as injuries slowed him down at several junctures of his career.
Soon after breaking the Word Junior Record in the 200m with a time of 19.93 seconds at the CARIFTA Games in Hamilton, Bermuda in 2004, Bolt was slowed by a troublesome hamstring injury.  He qualified for the final of the 200m at the 2005 IAAF World T&F Championships in Helsinki, Finland but in cold and wet weather pulled up before the finish holding his hamstring.
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History Images
Usain Bolt 2012 
     He missed what turned out to be a ‘Jamaican party’ at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006 when he suffered another hamstring injury while running a leg of the 4x400m relay for the IAAF High performance Centre’s team at the Gibson Relays in Kingston.  Jamaican athletes swept all the sprint events at the meet, despite his absence.
Fortunately, he recovered well enough later that year to set a personal best of 19.88 secs in the 200m and place second in the 200m at the IAAF World Cup of Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany.
2007 was the breakthrough year in that he broke the 30 year old Jamaican 200m Record, held by the great        Donald Quarrie, with a time of 19.75 secs to win the Jamaican Senior T&F Championships.  He went to the 2007 IAAF World T&F Championships in Osaka, Japan in good form and won two silver medals in the 200m and 4x 100m relay.
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History Videos
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics 
     In 2008 Usain Bolt rewrote the history books and became one of the biggest sports stats on the planet.  He moved down in distance to the 100m sprint and in his second race of the year broke the world record with a time of 9.72 secs in New York.  Since then he has gone from strength to strength with his heroic achievements in the Olympic Games in Beijing and in the IAAF World T&F Championships in Berlin and Daegu.  He is undoubtedly the ‘World’s Fastest Man’ having broken the 100m world record three times and the 200m record two times.
     Usain has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year on two occasions (2009 & 2010); the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year three times (2008, 2009, 2011) as well as many awards in many countries in all corners of the world.  He has his own clothing line in conjunction with Puma; his own watch made by Hublot; his own headphone range ‘Soul by Usain Bolt’; his own restaurant ‘Tracks & Records’ in Kingston, Jamaica; the ‘Usain Bolt Foundation’ and endorses some of the top brands in the world.
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Records 

Profile:-
Height:
6’5″ (1.95 metres)
Weight:
207 pounds (94 kg)
Place of Birth:
Trelawny, Jamaica
Nationality:
Jamaican
Date of Birth:
21 August 1986
Place of Residence:
Kingston, Jamaica
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Gold Medals 

World Records:-
100m – 9.58 seconds
Berlin, 2009
200m – 19.19 seconds
Berlin, 2009
4x100m – 37.04 seconds
Daegu, 2011

Olympic Gold Medals:-
100m – 9.69 seconds
Beijing, 2008
200m – 19.30 seconds
Beijing, 2008
4x100m – 37.10 seconds
Beijing, 2008

World Champion-Ship Gold Medals:-
100m – 9.58 seconds
Berlin, 2009
200m – 19.19 seconds
Berlin, 2009
200m – 19.40 seconds
Daegu, 2011
4x100m – 37.31 seconds
Berlin, 2009
4x100m – 37.04 seconds
Daegu, 2011

World Junior Records:-
200m – 19.93 seconds
Kingston, 2002
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest Gold Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt Gold Medals

BOLT LEADS JAMAICA’S SWEEP OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES 200 METRES:-
Usain Bolt became the first man to successfully defend both 100 and 200 sprint titles in an Olympic Games with a 19.32 clocking over 200 metres at the London Olympic Games on Thursday.
This time is the third fastest time over the distance the world record holder has ever run in his career with 19.30 and 19.19 seconds done in 2008 and 2009 in Beijing and Berlin respectively.
Bolt in an interview after the race said, “this is what I wanted and I got it. I came here to London to get the job done and I am this close to completing that task.”
Bolt also led a historical feat as his teammates Yohan Blake 19.44 and Warren Weir – 19.84 (PB) are the first Non-Americans to complete a clean sweep of the 200 metres.
Bolt is part of the team 4 X 100 metres relay team. Jamaica has the world record of 37.04 which was run in Daegu at the World Championships.

BOLT BLAZES TO 9.63 SECONDS IN OLYMPIC 100M FINAL:-
 Usain Bolt successfully defended his 100 metres title at the London Olympics with an impressive 9.63 seconds on Sunday, August 5.
Although Bolt was jubilant about his victory, he noted “this is the first step for me and the 100 metres is just a step in the door and the 200 metres win would help me achieve the legend status. ”Becoming a legend is my ultimate goal. That’s my goal right there, and that means defending my titles.

Bolt won ahead of countryman and club mate Yohan Blake with 9.75 seconds, while 2004 winner, Justin Gatlin of the USA got the bronze.

The win was historic for Jamaica as the country celebrated its 50th year of Independence on August 6. Another interesting piece of history, exactly 64 years ago at the London Olympic Games, Jamaicans Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley ran first and second in the 400 metres on August 5 – same day while USA’s Mal Whitfield was third.

Bolt won his heat of the 200 metres in a comfortable 20.39 seconds to qualify for round 2. The final is set for August 9.

USAIN BOLT ANNOUNCED FOR ATHLETISSIMA LAUSANNE ON AUGUST 23:-
Lausanne, Switzerland – Great news for all Usain Bolt fans! After missing last year’s edition of Athletissima, Usain Bolt is back at the Samsung Diamond League meeting, and will run on the Pontaise track on 23 August for the sixth time. The Jamaican champion will decide after the London Games whether he line up in the 100m or the 200m.
The love story between Bolt and Ahtletissima started in 2006, when the Jamaican ran in Lausanne for the first time. It was a 200m and he immediately fell in love with the Lausanne curve: “It is always a great pleasure to run in Lausanne, in a stadium which has one of the best curves I have ever seen.”
That year, he finished 3rd behind Carter and Gay, but in a great 19.88. The following year, in 2007, he was 2nd behind Gay, again. In 2008 and 2009, he won in 19.63 and 19.59, under pouring rain in what was arguably the best time ever clocked in such miserable weather and has been the Athletissima 200m record since.
In 2010, after 5 weeks of injury, he had wished to run the 100m, which he won in 9.82. This shows that, whatever the distance, the triple Olympic champion, triple World record holder and 5 times World champion puts on an amazing show. This year, his best results so far have been 9.76 and 19.83.
The bronze medalist of the Osaka and Berlin World championships, Wallace Spearmon, will run the 200m. The American sprinter has been among the best in the world for several years and has just won the US trials in 19.82, with too much tailwind though. He had already clocked a sub 20 second time (19.95) at the beginning of the season in Arlington. His PB is 19.65. The European champion Churandy Martina and the winner yesterday in Monaco Nickel Ashmeade will join him.
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m News Gold Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt Gold History

Rank
Event
Year
Location
Result
Olympic Games
1
100m
2008
Beijing, CHN
9.69
1
200m
2008
Beijing, CHN
19.30
1
4 x 100m Relay
2008
Beijing, CHN
37.10
Heats
200m
2004
Athens, GRE
21.05
World Championships
1
200m
2011
Daegu, KOR
19.40
1
4 x 100m Relay
2011
Daegu, KOR
37.04
1
100m
2009
Berlin, GER
9.58
1
200m
2009
Berlin, GER
19.19
1
4 x 100m Relay
2009
Berlin, GER
37.31
2
200m
2007
Osaka, JPN
19.91
2
4 x 100m Relay
2007
Osaka, JPN
37.89
8
100m
2011
Daegu, KOR
DSQ
Diamond League
1
100m
2012
Oslo, NOR
9.79
1
100m
2012
Rome, ITA
9.76
1
100m
2011
Monaco, MON
9.88
1
100m
2011
Rome, ITA
9.91
1
200m
2011
Stockholm, SWE
20.03
1
200m
2011
Paris Saint-Denis, FRA
20.03
1
200m
2011
Oslo, NOR
19.86
1
100m
2010
Paris Saint-Denis, FRA
9.84
1
200m
2010
Shanghai, CHN
19.76
2
100m
2010
Stockholm, SWE
9.97
Golden League
1
100m
2009
Zurich, SUI
9.81
1
100m
2009
Paris Saint-Denis, FRA
9.79
1
200m
2009
Brussels, BEL
19.57
1
100m
2008
Brussels, BEL
9.77
1
100m
2008
Zurich, SUI
9.83
World Challenge
1
100m
2012
Ostrava, CZE
10.04
1
100m
2012
Kingston, JAM
9.82
1
100m
2011
Zagreb, CRO
9.85
1
100m
2011
Ostrava, CZE
9.91
1
100m
2010
Daegu, KOR
9.86
1
300m
2010
Ostrava, CZE
30.97
Super Grand Prix
1
100m
2009
London, GBR
9.91
1
200m
2009
Lausanne, SUI
19.59
1
200m
2008
Lausanne, SUI
19.63
Grand Prix
1
100m
2009
Ostrava, CZE
9.77

Nickname
Lightning Bolt. (Track and Field News, 01 Sep 2003)
Hobbies
Watching basketball, playing dominoes, listening to Jamaican dancehall music, dancing and partying. (Jamaican Athletics, 14 Oct 2003; bbc.co.uk, 18 Aug 2008; smh.com.au, 06 Sep 2011)
Occupation
Athlete
Club name
Racers Athletic Club, Kingston, JAM
Coach
Glen Mills from 2004 (espn.co.uk, 29 Dec 2011)
Debut
2004 for Jamaica, Olympic Games (Athens) (nbcolympics.com, 10 May 2012)

Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m 200m latest News Gold Medals History
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Records Gold Medals 

Injuries
An injured Achilles tendon in his left ankle kept him out of competition for five weeks in 2010. He returned to action at the Diamond League event in Lausanne in July before back problems brought his year to an end in August. (bbc.co.uk, 08 Jul 2010, 06 Aug 2010; dailymail.co.uk, 24 May 2011)

In April 2009 he crashed his BMW M3 on a wet road outside of Kingston. The car overturned, rolled into a ditch and was severely damaged. Neither he, his brother nor a female passenger were seriously injured, although he was treated for scratches and a minor foot injury. He missed about a month of training and competition. (guardian.co.uk, 01 May 2009; nbcolympics.com, 10 May 2012)

He was forced to miss the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia with a hamstring injury. (usainbolt.com, 17 Aug 2009)
Additional information
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics Biography Records 100m latest News Gold Medals History Images/Videos
Usain Bolt 2012 100m 200m Records
Start of sporting career
He started sprinting during his days at William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny, Jamaica. (jamaica-gleaner.com, 18 Aug 2008)

Reason for taking up this sport
He played cricket for his school as his height made him a natural fast bowler. The cricket coach recognised he was also quick on his feet and suggested he try sprinting. (sherbrooke2003.ca, 24 Sep 2003)

Ambitions
To become a legend. (bbc.co.uk, 20 Aug 2009)

Training
He works on a cyclical training basis. At the start of a season he works on strength development before concentrating on coordination and biomechanical execution as the season develops. (usainbolt.com, 10 May 2012)

Hero
The United States' world and Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson and Jamaica's Olympic champions Herb McKenley - who won gold in the 4x400m at the 1952 Helsinki Games, and Don Quarrie - who won gold in the 200m at the 1976 Montreal Games. "If you sit and watch Don Quarrie, he is one of the smoothest bend runners ever." (bbc.co.uk, 18 Aug 2008)

Most influential person in career
Coach Glen Mills. "He is like a father figure to me," he said. "He has never done me any wrong and he has always made the right decisions. He is a guiding light and he has shown me the way to improve myself both as a person and as an athlete." (AFP, 24 Nov 2008)

Superstitions / Rituals
"The night before [a race] I decide what I need to do. Then on the day I just try to relax, think about other stuff, maybe cars or something. If you think about racing too much you may just lose it a little bit." (bbc.co.uk, 18 Aug 2008)

Awards
In recognition of his achievements, he has received various titles from the Jamaican government, as well as an honorary degree from the University of West Indies. With all honorifics, his official title is: Dr the Honourable Ambassador Usain St Leo Bolt, OJ. (jamaica-gleaner.com, 05 Oct 2008; smh.com.au, 06 Sep 2011; jis.gov.jm, 10 May 2012)

He has been conferred a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO] Champion for Sport. (jis.gov.jm, 10 May 2012)

He received the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in 2008, 2009 and 2011. (iaaf.org, 12 Nov 2011)

He was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2009 and 2010. (laureus.com, 10 May 2012)

WHEELY BAD DRIVER
He has been involved in a few accidents since rising to prominence. In 2009 he crashed a BMW car into a ditch along a highway. He was forced to have surgery on his left foot after stepping on thorns while walking away from the wreck. Then, in June 2012, he lost control of another BMW and collided with guard rails early in the morning after leaving a party. He was unharmed. (AP, 10 Jun 2012)

STARTING OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT

In the months before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he spoke out against the new starting blocks, saying they did not suit him. "The blocks have changed from last season. They're new models. Personally I think they need to go back to the old blocks," he said. "I'm not very pleased with the new blocks they have, they're a little short for me." He wears UK size 13 shoes. (AFP, 10 Jun 2012)

2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
A false start eliminated him from the 100m final at the 2011 World Championships and focussed sharp criticism on the IAAF's zero-tolerance false start rule inaugurated in 2010. After cooling down on the practice track, he told reporters the mishap wasn't going to affect him. "Looking for tears?" he said. "Not going to happen. I'm OK." Days later he put the disappointment behind him to successfully defended his 200m title, claiming gold in 19.40. (espn.go.com, 28 Aug 2011; daegu2011.iaaf.org, 03 Sep 2011)

UNCONVENTIONAL
In his 2010 biography 'Usain Bolt: 9.58' he revealed that he doesn't consider himself a conventional athlete and could run even faster if he could be bothered to live a more disciplined lifestyle. "I'm so lucky that I'm raw talent," he said. "If I really worked at it I could be extremely good indeed, but I never have. Yes, I put the effort in at times, but I could do more. If I train right, eat right, go to the gym all the time and dedicate myself 100 per cent then I definitely will do crazy times. It's hard, I don't know how some sportsmen do it, I do what I like, stay up until whatever time I feel like, socialise when I like and eat what I like. I don't follow any of the rules." (smh.com.au, 06 Sep 2011)

2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
He set a 100m world record of 9.58 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, bettering his own record by 0.11 seconds - the biggest single improvement of the record since 1921. He then went on to set a new 200m world record of 19.19 seconds, again bettering his own record by 0.11, to become the first man to hold the 100m and 200m world and Olympic titles at the same time. "I definitely showed people that my world records in Beijing were not a joke," he said. To mark his achievements Berlin mayor, Klaus Wowereit, presented him with a 12-foot tall original section of the Berlin Wall. (abc.net.au, 17 Aug 2009; berlin.iaaf.org, 16 Aug 2009; bbc.co.uk, 20 Aug 2009; sports.espn.go.com, 23 Aug 2009)

2008 OLYMPIC GAMES
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games he became the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100m and 200m races in world record times, but received criticism from IOC president Jacques Rogge for showing a lack of respect to his competitors for celebrating before crossing the line in the 100m. "I would love him to show more respect for his competitors," Rogge said. "That's not the way we perceive being a champion. I understand the joy, but he might have interpreted that in another way. He'll learn. He's still a young man." (cbc.ca, 20 Aug 2008; usainbolt.com, 17 Aug 2009; sports.aol.com, 10 May 2012)

FRIES WITH THAT?

After setting a new 100m world record at the 2009 World Championships he revealed some unusual nutritional preparation. "Asafa [Powell] said there was no nuggets here [in Berlin] but I found a McDonald's and I had a lot of nuggets for lunch," he said. He also admitted that during his record runs at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games he was eating up to 15 chicken nuggets at least once a day. (news.com.au, 17 Aug 2009; smh.com.au, 06 Sep 2011)
Previous Olympics
Beijing 2008, Athens 2004


                 GET MORE ON OLYMPICS 


Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Bluehost Review