Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, CC BY 3.0 br

Usain Bolt

1986 – present · age 40^[1][2]

Sports

Fun Facts About Usain Bolt

• Usain Bolt set his 9.69-second 100 m world record at the 2008 Olympics even though he visibly slowed down to celebrate before the finish and his shoelace was untied.^[1]
• Cricket was Bolt's first sport, and his school cricket coach urged him to try track after noticing his speed. In a charity match he once clean-bowled Chris Gayle.^[1]
• Bolt has scoliosis, a curvature of the spine that makes his right leg shorter than his left and gives him an uneven stride.^[1]
• In 2018 Bolt trained with the Australian football club Central Coast Mariners and scored two goals in a friendly, celebrating with his "To Di World" pose.^[1]
• As a teenager, Bolt hid in the back of a van as a prank when he should have been preparing for a 200 m final, and was detained by police for it.^[1]
• Bolt lost his 2008 Olympic relay gold in 2017 because teammate Nesta Carter was disqualified for doping, though Bolt himself never failed a drug test.^[1]
• Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi were born less than a year apart.^[1][2][3][4]
• Usain Bolt was alive at the same time as Hirohito — their lives overlapped for 3 years (1986–1989).^[1][2][5][6]

Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.^[1]

Contemporaries

Noam Chomsky

40 yr overlap

Wole Soyinka

40 yr overlap

Dalai Lama

40 yr overlap

Woody Allen

40 yr overlap

Francis Ford Coppola

40 yr overlap

Bob Dylan

40 yr overlap

Billie Jean King

40 yr overlap

Aung San Suu Kyi

40 yr overlap

Steven Spielberg

40 yr overlap

Oprah Winfrey

40 yr overlap

Rigoberta Menchú

40 yr overlap

Ai Weiwei

40 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Usain Bolt

When was Usain Bolt born?

Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, and is alive today.

How old is Usain Bolt?

Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986, and turned 40 on August 21, 2026.

What is Usain Bolt known for?

Usain Bolt is known for: Fastest man in history. Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.

Who was alive at the same time as Usain Bolt?

Usain Bolt's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 40 years.