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Usain Bolt was already a superstar when he strutted onto the track to start his Beijing 2008 campaign. Breaking the men’s 100m world record the year prior was certain to make him a superstar.
Then, a series of mind-bending runs at the Beijing Olympics saw his fame explode.
Four years after making his Olympic debut as an 18-year-old at the Athens Games, where he bowed out in the heats of the 200m, the towering Jamaican arrived in Beijing aiming to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see Usain Bolt’s domination of the Beijing 2008 Olympics!
Not only did he achieve the treble, he set new world records in the 100m and 200m and anchored his Jamaican team to glory in world record time.
He trimmed his 100m world record from 9.72 seconds to 9.69 and broke Michael Johnson’s 12-year-old 200m world record with a time of 19.30. He and his teammates then clocked 37.10 to win gold in the 4x100m relay.
In a blow to Bolt’s sparkling resume, the Jamaican relay team was in 2017 stripped of its Beijing 2008 gold medal after Nesta Carter failed a drugs test.
It meant Bolt, who had won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016, could no longer claim to have achieved the “triple-treble”.
“It’s heartbreaking because over the years you’ve worked hard to accumulate gold medals and work hard to be a champion, but it’s just one of those things,” Bolt said before the stripping of the gold medals was confirmed.
“I’m not worried about that [losing more relay gold medals],” he said once the news was confirmed.
“If I lose all of my relay gold medals, for me I did what I had to do with my personal goals and that’s what counts.”
A year after his Beijing 2008 heroics, Bolt lowered his 100m and 200m world records to 9.58 and 19.19 respectively. Both marks still stand.
He’s also the only man to have won the 100m-200 double at three consecutive Olympic Games. In fact, no other man has successfully defended both titles.
He’s among the greatest sportspeople to have graced earth.