Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt spots a promising athlete who reminds him of his younger self

Jamaican track veteran Usain Bolt has named the athlete from the current generation who reminds him of himself. Even though the legendary sprinter retired from the sport back in 2017, his records in several events, such as the 100m and 200m remain unblemished.

However, there are a few athletes from the current generation who have shown immense charisma and flair in their tenures on the track. This list includes many, from the reigning 200m world champion, Noah Lyles, to Jamaican quicks such as Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville, but Bolt doesn't see a version of himself in these top athletes.

Speaking in an interview during his time in India, Bolt was asked to name an athlete whom he could relate to from the current generation. Replying to the question, Bolt named reigning 200m Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, saying (via CNN News-18, 6:02 onwards):

"Tebogo, I think Tebogo is cool, yeah."

Notably, Tebogo, whom Usain Bolt named, had a disappointing individual campaign at the World Athletics Championships courtesy of an injury. However, he helped Botswana to a 4x400m gold medal in the competition.

Usain Bolt opens up about the reason behind Jamaica's immense success in athletics

Usain Bolt (Image via: Getty)

Usain Bolt shed light on the reason behind the immense success of a small island country like Jamaica in athletics. Even after he retired from the sport, Bolt is very passionate about the performances of her countrymen in track and field and was also recently seen at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, held last month.

Speaking in an interview, Bolt stated that Jamaica can find immense raw talent in successive periods, and the kids in his country look up to track greats like him and thereby aspire to be such athletes. Bolt said (via Sport Today, 00:56 onwards):

"I don't know, I think we are just a lucky island, but I think we just find the talent because the kids want to run fast and to do great because of the people that you named. They look up to us, so they try and come to do their best."

Bolt also named some of his cricketing heroes while growing up in Jamaica during the interview. He said:

"It was definitely the West Indies guys, Brian Lara was top and Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, all these guys."

Notably, Bolt also has a deep affection towards cricket and was also one of the official brand ambassadors of the 2024 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup held in the USA and the Caribbean Islands.

Edited by Soumik Bhattacharya