"Put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot" - Usain Bolt opens up on dealing with pressure during his first World Junior Championships

Usain Bolt is undoubtedly one of the greatest sprinters modern athletics has ever seen. The 38-year-old sprinting sensation revealed the pressure he had to handle during his first edition of the World Youth Championships in 2001, where he represented Jamaica for the first time.

In the podcast session with former Olympic medallist Colin Jackson titled 'Go Wild Podcast,' Bolt opened up about the 200m event at the World Junior Championships held in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2001. Before that, Bolt had earned honors for Jamaica at the 2001 CARIFTA games in Barbados, where he won two silver medals in the 200m and the 400m events, respectively.

"When you say pressure, that [World Juniors] was such a good moment because I've never been so nervous my entire life. World Juniors, I'll never forget, I was walking out the tunnel, and then the other people started chanting 'Bolt, Bolt!', and I'm like 'What's Happening?' You know what I mean? I couldn't stride out. My legs were weak. I put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot. I was losing it, I was so nervous," Bolt said. [32:00 onwards]

Usain Bolt eventually lost the race, failing to make it to the finals. However, he clocked a timing of 21.73 seconds, a new personal best. He went on to win a gold medal and two silver medals at the 2002 edition of the Junior World Championships held in Kingston, Jamaica.

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Usain Bolt shares his thoughts about his father's advice that made him choose athletics over cricket

Usain Bolt on the father's advice that helped him pick athletics over cricket [Image Source : Getty]

Usain Bolt is one of the most successful track and field athletes of all time. He has the world record in men's 100m and men's 200m to his credit. However, though he chose running as his career, his first love continues to be cricket.

Bolt used to play cricket for the William Knibb Memorial High School until his talent for running was discovered. Interestingly, it was his father, Wellesley, whose timely advice helped him choose track over cricket, as revealed later in his autobiography, 'Faster than Lightning: My Autobiography'.

Bolt wrote,

"In cricket, there are other people involved because it's a team sport. It can get tricky. You could play well, better than anyone else, but if the coach has a favorite, then you might not get picked. That happens quite a lot in life and it's unfair. But in track and field you're the boss of yourself."

Usain Bolt turned professional in 2004 and made his Olympic debut at the quadrennial event held in Athens in 2004, though he was eliminated in the heats. Bolt later went on to win eight Olympic gold medals in his entire career from 2004 to 2017.