Usain Bolt thought he was better than Manchester United stars but made ‘mistake’ in second career after Olympics glory
Not many athletes can say they had the chance to pursue a professional career in more than one sport.
But with Usain Bolt's achievements setting him apart from all others in his field, it was unsurprising that he was confident in his chances of forging a football career after his retirement from athletics.
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The eight-time Olympic gold medallist called time on his glittering track career in 2017, and immediately set his set sights on paving a way for himself in the beautiful game.
Bolt went on to spend two years training with clubs in South Africa, Norway, and Germany and looked set to join Australian side Central Coast Mariners towards the end of it.
Ultimately however, he was unable to agree a contract with the A-League side and gave up on his footballing aspirations shortly afterwards in January 2019.
And the Jamaican star, who is an avid Manchester United fan, later admitted that his decision to pursue a second career had been inspired by his experiences watching his favourite club.
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Speaking in an interview with Jamaican radio station Irie FM in 2021, Bolt revealed he had been convinced that he was on a similar level to some of the Red Devils' stars.
He said: "During (my) track and field (career), I was always watching Manchester United.
"I thought that if some players – I'm not going to name names, you know them – if they can play football, I can probably do it too."
And while he never quite managed to hit the same heights as his United heroes during his brief foray into the game, the legendary sprinter's time on the pitch still produced some memorable moments.
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In October 2018, Bolt made the headlines when he scored twice in his second trial match with the Mariners, the first of which showcased his trademark speed before producing a well-taken finish.
Prior to this, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Marco Reus and Mario Gotze when he took part in an open training session with German giants Borussia Dortmund in March of the same year.
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The Jamaican showed his prowess in front of goal there too, scoring a bullet header in a match scenario, as well as cheekily nutmegging one of the club's youngsters.
Bolt reflected on this time: "It is something that over the years I have said: 'You know what, I would love to try'.
He added: "It was a great experience, I definitely enjoyed it."
Despite this however, he also shared some regrets about the period, namely his decision to pursue his chosen path in Australia, away from Europe's spotlight.
Having initially trained with a string of European sides, including Dortmund and Norwegian club Stromsgodset before turning down a contract with Maltese outfit Valletta, he then decided his best hope of cutting it in the sport lay outside of the continent.
And he admitted in hindsight this may have been the wrong choice from a development perspective, saying: “When I decided that I was going to go into it, I was like: 'I don’t want to stay in Europe'.
"Because of who I am, in Europe, the sole attention is going to be on me."
Bolt continued: “So I decided to go as far as possible away. But I think the correct thing to do was to actually stay in Europe where there were much better teams and people who understood [his abilities]."
The Olympics legend finished: "So that was mistake. But if I knew I would have stayed in Europe.”
But with Bolt's unrivalled sprinting achievements already securing him legend status, for many his footballing exploits have only further immortalised him as one of the sporting world's biggest icons.