via Getty
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning gold in the Men’s 200m Final on Day 13 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 9, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
via Getty
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning gold in the Men’s 200m Final on Day 13 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 9, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
In terms of track-and-field athletes, Usain Bolt is the most famous anywhere in the world with his charismatic personality and undoubted talent. Despite having a slow start to his career, Bolt has come up to become the greatest of all time. He is the current world record holder of both the 100-meters and 200-meters competitions. However, there aren’t many who know about his medical condition. Bolt has scoliosis, a medical condition that means a sideways curvature of the spine. In a recent Twitter post, he revealed that the condition has not been rectified.
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) September 5, 2021
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Usain Bolt ran with Scoliosis
Even after having this condition, Bolt ran alongside some great athletes and emerged as the G.O.A.T. His winning streak at the Olympics started in Beijing 2008 and lasted till Rio 2016. But, things were not relatively easy. He received a Tweet from Wild Tunes Podcast on whether he corrected his scoliosis. Bolt’s reply- ‘No.’
via Getty
BEIJING – AUGUST 20: Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the world record with a time of 19.30 to win the gold medal in the Men’s 200m Final ahead of Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe and Shawn Crawford of the United States at the National Stadium during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
According to research at Southern Methodist University, his right leg exerts more force to the track than his longer left leg. Significantly, there are studies related to this being a cause of concern for athletes. Uneven strides cause the athlete to lose pace.
The ability to run at a pace like that with this condition is unimaginable. Bolt, however, did it with ease.
How is he able to run fast?
The condition made his spine curve to the right, making his right leg half an inch shorter than his left. Likewise, many great sprinters have even strides but Bolt’s difference makes him even more incredible.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Director of S.M.U lab, Peter Weyand, spoke about how he may have corrected it.
“Our working idea is that he?s probably optimized his speed, and that asymmetry reflects that. In other words, correcting his asymmetry would not speed him up and might even slow him down. If he were to run symmetrically, it could be an unnatural gait for him.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It’s amazing to see him running at full speed with this condition. Now, the renowned athlete has released a music album which is doing very well for itself.
WATCH THIS STORY-?Top 10 Greatest Moments in Olympic History
