Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has revealed plans to return to professional sport, but in an unexpected way. With the Los Angeles Olympics set to take place in 2028, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist is looking forward to a comeback not on the track but on the cricket field as the sport returns to the Olympics after 128 years.
Usain Bolt retired from athletics in 2017 after winning eight Olympic gold medals. He grew up in the Caribbean, where cricket is popular, and at one time wanted to become a fast bowler. Bolt later became the most successful sprinter in history and also served as the brand ambassador of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Usain Bolt hints at Olympic return in a new sport
In an interview with Esquire magazine, Usain Bolt said he is enjoying retirement, but is open to a comeback if Jamaican cricket officials approach him for the Olympics. The 39-year-old admitted that he has not played cricket for a long time, but he will be ready if he gets a call.
“I’m happily retired from the professional game. I haven’t played cricket for a long time, but if they call, I’ll be ready,” the 39-year-old Bolt told Esquire in an interview.
In 2014, Bolt faced Yuvraj Singh in an exhibition game during the PUMA Face-Off challenge, where Bolt hit a six off the last ball.
If my cricket coach hadn’t said… – Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt said that cricket was his first sporting passion while growing up. The sprinter said that if his coach had not encouraged him to run, he would have remained involved in cricket.
“Definitely a cricketer. Yes, I think if my cricket coach hadn’t said, ‘You know, try running,’ I probably would have stuck to cricket, because my father was a big cricket fan and that’s all I knew growing up. Cricket, a little football, but that’s all I knew was cricket,” he told PTI last October.
“Well, for me, it was my cricket coach. I was a fast bowler, and my cricket coach saw me running and said, ‘You know, why not try track and field?’ And I tried, and I was really good. I was very talented and it’s something I continued to do.”
Usain Bolt’s record-breaking career and cricket’s Olympic return in 2028
Usain Bolt is considered the most successful sprinter in history. She won eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championship titles before retiring from athletics in 2017. Bolt completed the 100 m and 200 m double at three consecutive Olympic Games – Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Bolt clocked 9.58 seconds in the men’s 100 meters at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, the fastest time ever. He also holds the Olympic 100 m record of 9.63 seconds, set in the London 2012 final.
Cricket will return to the Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The event will feature six men’s teams and six women’s teams, with 90 athlete slots in each tournament. The women’s final will be held on July 20, while the men’s gold medal match will be played on July 29.
Cricket last appeared in the Olympics in 1900. At the Paris Games, Great Britain defeated France to win the gold medal, the only Olympic edition in which the sport was played.
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