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Olympic gold medalist Bernard Williams opened up about Usain Bolt's iconic celebration pose called "To Di World." Justin Gatlin shared that Williams was the first person to showcase the pose during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, even before Usain Bolt's debut appearance at the World Youth Championships.
Bernard Williams made an appearance in the latest episode of Justin Gatlin's podcast 'Ready Set Go' and shared a lot of anecdotes from his track career as well as his opinion on the current generation of athletes. However, while talking about victory poses, Gatlin pointed out Williams' celebratory action after winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100m relay at the Sydney Olympics while waving the American flag.
The pose was similar to what is now popular as "To Di World," also called 'Lightning Bolt', which was popularized by Usain Bolt after his back-to-back victories in major championships. Many celebrities, including former US president Barack Obama and Prince Harry, among others, were seen doing the pose, thereby contributing to its popularity.
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Bernard Williams shared that he was inspired by WWE star Hulk Hogan to do that pose; however, it got popular after Usain Bolt was seen doing the pose during his celebrations. Moreover, Williams pointed out that Hulk Hogan would have the fist of his trailing hand clenched, whereas Bolt would do the pose with the index fingers of both his hands pointing towards the sky.
“I got that from Hulk Hogan. But then Usain stole it from me. So I can't say nothing because I stole it. You want to say, you saying, you want to go out there and know that Bernard Williams stole my post and now Usain Bolt is doing it," he said,
“Oh, he don't do the finger like this. He just, he clenched the fist and then do the thing over here. You got your finger out, my finger closed, right?” he concluded
Usain Bolt gets the logo of his iconic pose trademarked
Usain Bolt got the logo of his iconic pose trademarked with the United States Patent and Trademark Office back in 2022. The legendary athlete shared that he intended to use the logo while exploring different business avenues after retirement from track and field.
The official filing in the United States Patent and Trademark Office states:
"The mark consists of the silhouette of a man in a distinctive pose, with one arm bent and pointing to the head, and the other arm raised and pointing upward."
Since his retirement from track and field in 2017, Bolt explored the opportunity to play professional football in 2018; however, a year later, he announced that he was completely retiring from sports. Bolt continues to make appearances in major track events as a celebrity guest and enjoys his retirement life with his family in Jamaica.
