There is no listed age that Usain Bolt began running. As a child, Bolt attended Waldensia Primary, where he first began to show his sprinting potential, running in the annual national primary-schools’ meeting for his parish. By the age of twelve, Bolt had become the school’s fastest runner over the distance of 100 meters.
Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 in
Sherwood Content in the Trelawny section of
Jamaica. (Click here for a complete listing of today's sports birthdays .) His parents, Jennifer and Wellesley, owned a small grocery store. Usain,
his brother Sadeeki and sister Shrine helped them
run the business. Usain was obsessed with sports. He showed great
promise as a sprinter at an early age. As a primary
school student, he began entering regional races.
By his 12th brithday, he had established himself as
one of the fastest sprinters in the area. Usain continued his develoment under the tutelage
of Pablo McNeil and Dwayne Narrett. After enrolling
at Knibb High School, he won his first prep medal at
the age of 14, taking silver in the 200 meters in
22.04 seconds. Although Usain was not always
serious about his training, his size, speed and strength kept him moving up the ranks of the
nation’s elite sprinting prospects. Usain was at the right place in Knibb. The school
had a reputation for channeling gifted athletes into
national programs. Sprinter Michael Green was
among the school’s more illustrious grads. But the fact that Usain was even mentioned in the
same sentence as a sprinter like Green was
surprising to many. As a young child, he had
passed the warm days playing soccer and cricket.
Usain was an especially good bowler. One of his
first sports idols was Waqar Younis, an internationally renowned Pakistani cricket star.
Even as he started his sprinting career at Knibb,
Usain still focused his athletic attention on cricket.
Recognizing the teenager’s blinding speed, his
cricket coach encouraged him to give track a
serious look. In 2001, Usain competed in his first major event,
representing Jamaica in a Caribbean regional meet
called the CARIFTA Games. He ran the 400 meters in
a personal-best 48.28 seconds and the 200 meters
in 21.81. He finished second in both races. Later
that year, Usain appeared in his first true international meet, the IAAF World Youth
Championships. He and his teammates traveled to
Hungary, where he set a new personal best in the
200 of 21.73 seconds.
He was 18 years old when started running.
