"How am I disrespectful?"- Usain Bolt opens up facing scrutiny for his early celebration at the Beijing Olympics 

Usain Bolt opened up on facing scrutiny for his early celebration during the men's 100m at the Beijing Olympics. The Jamaican athlete, who was in peak form during the major games extended his arms in celebration after racing ahead of the pack in the last 15 meters of the race.

Bolt's celebration during the race drew mixed reactions from fans and enthusiasts worldwide. Several fans called out the Jamaican athlete for being disrespectful towards his competitors while asserting his dominance on the track. Despite the early celebration, Usain Bolt still broke the World Record at that time with a performance of 9.68s.

In an interview posted on the YouTube channel 'High Performance,' the legendary sprinter recalled winning his first Olympic Gold medal and facing backlash for his celebration on the track. Bolt revealed that he was surprised when people called him out for being disrespectful. He expressed that it was just his personality to enjoy his races on the track and stated that he used to display his jolly persona right from his appearances as a junior athlete.

"That was just my personality. If you follow my career throughout my year when I was 15, I won in Jamaica afterward I saluted the crowd, and I was vibing, next year I won at World Youth, I was dancing, break-dancing, so it's something that I have always done throughout my career," he said.

"I remember when I celebrated when I won, people came to me and they were like, 'You're disrespectful'. I'm like how am I disrespectful? So I went to the actual athletes. I went to the ones that I actually knew I was like, 'Do you feel disrespected?' and they were like, 'No, if we were winning by that far, we would be doing the same thing," he added.

Usain Bolt on winning the Olympic gold medal with a lead

Usain Bolt before the men's 100m heats at the IAAF World Championships 2011 - Source: Getty

Usain Bolt spoke about his incredible win in the men's 100m at the Beijing Olympics. He revealed that he was looking out for fellow Jamaican athlete Asafa Powell to take an early lead.

"When the race started, it was just... 'I need to get this first 50, right.' At 30 meters I looked, I was slightly behind. Then I ran to 50 and I was in line and everyone. I expected Asafa [Powell] to be ahead of everybody. Looked across, he wasn't there," he said.

"So I was like, you know what, continue running. Ran to 60, kind of checked, ran to 70. When I got the 80 meters, hold on, where's Asafa? You know what I mean? And then I was like, 'oh sh*t, I'm gonna win!' I started beating my chest," he added.

He went on to break the world record and win the gold medal in the men's 200m and the 4x100m relay. However, the International Olympic Committee stripped the Jamaican team of their relay gold medal after Bolt's teammate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance.