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Bolt plans his career with long-term view

13.04.2009 World

Interesting piece on Usain Bolt by New York Times. Bolt’s coaches say he is not finished improving his sprint times. “My main goal is to be a legend in my sport,” Bolt, 22, said.

Not only does Bolt want to revitalize track, a sport experiencing international decline, and redefine the limits of speed, but by the 2012 Summer Games in London, or soon after, he wants to become the first track star to earn USD10 million a year in prize money, appearance fees and endorsements. “David Beckham, Tiger Woods, this are his target,” Ricky Simms, Bolt’s London-based agent, said, speaking more in terms of wide marketability than income. Track stars do not earn as much as top stars in more visible professional sports. Woods, for example, earns an estimated $100 million a year. A handful of top track stars, like Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Marion Jones and Maurice Greene, probably earned USD5 million to USD7 million at the peak of their careers, NY Times writes. Because Bolt is only 22, he has a chance to participate in three Olympics. To become a surpassing figure, he will surely have to continue to win and set records, while avoiding injury and complacency and remaining free of the taint of doping. His shoe contract with Puma is worth about USD1.5 million a year, company officials said. He also has endorsements for Gatorade and Digicel, a Caribbean mobile phone company, which could put Bolt’s 2009 income above USD3 million. But Bolt is from Jamaica, not the United States, where many Olympic sponsors have their headquarters. And he also came into greatness on the precipice of a worldwide recession. It remains to be seen whether he will ever realize his $10 million vision of licensing his image for video games, action figures and cereal boxes. Bolt now travels with two police officers, more to control overzealous fans than to protect him, one of the bodyguards said. He often sends his friends to run his errands; otherwise he will be routinely stopped and asked to sign autographs and pose for photographs. When in public, Bolt seems happy to oblige these requests. He attended the national high school track championships here with 25,000 others on April 4 and hugged children like the most seasoned politician. Still, he is fast only on the track; otherwise Bolt operates with his own unhurried rhythms. After the meet, he invited 2,000 people to a party at a local club, finally arriving at 2:30 a.m., dancing in a pair of sunglasses. On April 26, Bolt will attend a street carnival in Boston, where fans can race on a bike against a life-size cutout of him, attached to a rail, to try to match his 100-meter speed. In May, he will race 150 meters on a special track laid in the streets of Manchester, England. Next year, he plans to participate in a challenge between American and Jamaican sprinters. These events are designed to expand track’s appeal in non-Olympic years and to raise Bolt’s profile. “There is a responsibility for me to help the sport,” Bolt said. “It’s no problem. I want to have fun all the time. It’s just going to be me being me.” Writes NY Times.


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