Usain Bolt has never been in doubt on the track. Nor did he care about the world records in his 16-year-long professional career. Yes! You read it right! In 2009, Bolt didn’t jump into the men’s 100m final at the IAAF World Championships thinking about setting up the record. But the competition in the race and the resulting adrenaline rush helped him to achieve the unthinkable timing in the event. This is so unthinkable that after 16 years of that evening in Germany, the 9.58 timing still stands. But if we tell you that Bolt himself had the best chance to reset the timing in the last decade, would you believe us? And there is something more in the story, Puma as well. 

Too much in one place, isn’t it? Let us break it down. In the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt took 9.63 seconds in the men’s 100m final to win the gold medal. The race is widely regarded as the fastest of its kind, with the average time remaining in the sub-10 category. However, Bolt won the race but missed the world record by a margin of 0.04 seconds. He could have brought it down. And this instance of missing opportunity still makes him thoughtful. 

In his conversation with Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green in the Ready Set Go podcast, Bolt reminisced over that missing chance of resetting his own record. But Rodney quipped something important regarding Bolt’s sponsor, Puma. He said, “You save Puma some money. That was a bonus. That was a bonus?…… They was in the box like, yeah, ‘OK, we got to pay him that bonus. Jeez, this boy keep breaking world records. Jeez.’ shoot.” Have you got the meaning of the former Bahamian athlete’s words? 

Well, breaking a world record would have given Bolt a large amount of money from Puma as a reward. Moreover, before the London Olympics, the sportswear brand announced Bolt to play a “pivotal role” in its marketing campaign throughout the Games. In such a situation, resetting the world record could have broken the vault for him. But he missed his chance. Nonetheless, he still believes that he had the best chance to do it in London. 

It wasn’t only about Usain Bolt’s physical fitness in the London Olympics. The conditions stood up for him, making him the best candidate to turn up for the record. Such as? In the interaction with Gatlin and Green, Bolt said, “They [the host] put everybody on my left side. Because I look around, I tend to look around. So I was like, ‘I don’t have to look right. All I have to do is check left. All here. Everybody was on my left.’ I was like, ‘Yes, everybody’s on my left. I don’t have to look right once.’ So I was like, I was gone, bro.” In the lane, such a position helped him to measure his opponents’ position during the race. Quite effective! Notably, Justin Gatlin was there in the race. 

Gatlin’s practical experience in the race made him say that Bolt leaned early in the finishing line. If the Jamaican legend had gambled on his deceleration that evening, the needle could have moved faster and he would have had that reward. However, Puma didn’t have to spend extra money on that occasion. The realization of it, in fact, led Gatlin to say, “I bet Puma loves you at the same time. But you, boy, like bonuses after bonuses, rollovers after rollovers, though. Yeah, they didn’t like that.” But Puma already had something stunning with Usain Bolt those days. 

Usain Bolt reaped the results of his success on the track

Usain Bolt may have missed his chance to put extra money in his bag at the London Olympics as a reward. But three years before it, he had landed a tremendous deal with the brand. The sports raconteurs called it the “Largest ever.” Any idea about the number? As expected, the exact number had never made it to the public. But the rumor had it around 25 million USD. The deal had been active from 2010 to 2013. The same discussion said that Bolt’s success in the Beijing Olympics earned him such a pricey deal. However, Puma’s then-CEO clarified a few things about that. 

In an interaction, Jochen Zeitz said, “Usain has been a tremendous force for the PUMA brand. He embodies the joy, playfulness and irreverence that are the cornerstone of our brand.” His words correctly portrayed the picture of the bond between Puma and Usain Bolt. Since 2003, the two tremendous forces had been in the deal. In 2010, that deal reached the zenith. In 2012, however, Bolt could have gained something far bigger in one go. But that’s uncertain track and field sports are, isn’t it?