Usain Bolt, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist and 11-time World Championship winner, brought his sprinting legend to India this week, engaging fans with a series of events that highlighted both his athletic prowess and his love for sport beyond the track.
During the tour, Bolt revealed that batting icon Sachin Tendulkar is his favourite Indian cricketer, citing cricket as a source of inspiration during his early sporting years.
Cricket has long served as a source of motivation for Bolt, who credits watching skilled players push their limits on the field as inspiration for his own success on the track.
Usain Bolt has earlier revealed a lifelong admiration for Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis, recalling how he idolised the cricketing legend during his childhood.
As an aspiring fast bowler himself, Bolt was captivated by Younis’s smooth, blistering pace and skill on the field.
Despite this admiration, when asked about his favourite sportsperson globally, Bolt named the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, gold medallist at the 1960 Rome Olympics and two-time US National Champion.
Bolt also shared a lighter moment, comparing himself to Jamaican cricket star Chris Gayle on the dance floor, claiming the edge for himself in terms of speed.
He acknowledged that Jamaica has produced multiple cricketing greats, including Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Gayle, and Jeff Dujon, whose exploits may have influenced his sporting journey.
The sprinter’s early rise was marked by notable achievements in Jamaica.
At the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Bolt stood out at age 15, already 6 ft 5 in, and claimed the 200m title in 20.61 seconds, just shy of his personal best.
He went on to win four golds at the 2003 CARIFTA Games, earning the Austin Sealy Trophy as the competition’s most outstanding athlete.
Later, at the 23rd Vardinoyiannia meeting in Crete, Bolt made his 100m debut, winning gold with a time of 10.03 seconds, setting the stage for his rise to global sprinting stardom.
He continued his ascent with a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.
Bolt’s visit to Mumbai included a PUMA India event celebrating the country’s football culture.
At Mukesh Mills, the sprinter swapped spikes for football boots in a 5v5 exhibition match alongside stars from Mumbai City FC, Bengaluru FC, and Bollywood.
Known for his passion for football, Bolt showcased his competitive spirit, speed, and flair on the pitch, sharing the field with Indian football talents including Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Suresh Wangjam, Akash Mishra, and Phurba Lachenpa.
An avid Manchester United fan, Bolt has long been a celebrated admirer of football. In March 2018, he even took part in a two-day trial with German club Borussia Dortmund, training with the team and scoring a header in front of fans during an open session.
The trial was a public relations event organized because Puma sponsored both the sprinter and the club.
Bollywood actors Dino Morea and Aparshakti Khurana added a star appeal to the match.
Earlier, Bolt participated in a unique promotional sprinting event in Old Delhi, running across the rooftops of Khari Baoli,
Asia’s largest spice market, with the Red Fort as a backdrop. He shared the track with India’s Olympians P.V. Sindhu, P.R. Sreejesh, and Animesh Kujur in a rooftop relay orchestrated by Puma.
Bolt described the experience as unlike anything he had ever encountered and praised the energy of combining sport with culture in such a historic setting.
Bolt’s Mumbai visit combined his personal reflections on sport, his admiration for legends like Tendulkar and Ali, and his celebration of India’s vibrant sporting culture in ways that transcended the track.
The Olympian left the city with memories of football, sprinting, and the spice-scented rooftops of Old Delhi, embodying the energy and joy that have defined his career.