When you hear ‘Lightning Bolt,’ only one name comes to mind, right? Yup, the legendary Usain Bolt. World records in the 100m? Check. 200m? Yes, alright. 4 x 100 meters relay? Check! It’s been eight years since he hung up his spikes in 2017. And guess what? Well, no one has even come close to breaking his records! His 100m world record of 9.58 seconds? Still standing strong. And that, you remember, beastly 19.19 seconds in the 200m from the 2009 World Championships? Still untouchable. But here’s the thing–even the greatest of all time have their doubts. Turns out, back in 2004, a young Usain was actually anxious, fearing his fitness might ruin his races. Shocking, right? Even the fastest man alive had his moments of self-doubt!

In Faster Than Lightning, Usain Bolt opens up about the internal struggles behind his success. Reflecting on his time with Coach Glen Mills, he says, “It was like our early years together all over again.” Despite the challenges, his trust in his coach’s experience kept him grounded. “My faith in his experience was enough to keep me going,” he shares, knowing that when it came to major competitions, he could always rise to the occasion. “Whenever the major meets came around, either my body or my mind had always stepped up in the past.”

But heading into the World Championships, things weren’t clicking. Bolt admits, “My starts were poor, probably the worst ever,” and even though he won every race before the champs, “the performances weren’t convincing.” As he prepared for the heats in Daegu, his anxiety began to build, repeating the same thought: “Got to get this start right … Got to get this start right.” His coach could see the tension: “What’s going on, Usain? You’re not your normal self. You need to relax.”

However, after a smooth run in the heats, Bolt’s anxiety began to melt away. “When I won my heats easily, the anxiety started to fade, like a switch had been flicked in my head.” But the pressure was still there, especially with the new “zero tolerance” rule on false starts. “The heat was cranked up a notch in the blocks,” Bolt recalls. Yet, as the final approached, his confidence returned. “The race looked easy to me,” he thought, knowing it was his time to shine.

So, here’s the deal with the zero-tolerance rule. According to an Athletics Illustrated article from 2012, back in 2010, they brought it in to keep TV execs happy. The idea was to cut out those annoying delays caused by false starts, which could drag on forever—sometimes up to 10 minutes! But, ironically, this rule kind of backfired. When Usain Bolt false-started at the 2011 World Championships, the networks lost their golden boy. It was approved after the IAAF Congress held in Berlin in 2009 when 97 federations supported the rule. The new law was simple: one false start and you are out—unless you’re in a combined event. But coming back to Usain Bolt and his coach, Glen Mills has indeed played a huge role in his career and Bolt never shies away from thanking him.

Usain Bolt is grateful for coach Mills!

Recently, the 8-time Olympic gold legend dropped a heartfelt tribute on Instagram for the man who played a huge part in his journey to greatness: his coach, Glen Mills. Usain Bolt shared a series of three pictures on Insta, one with him and Mills sharing a moment of appreciation, with Bolt’s arm around his coach, another solo shot of Mills, and the third, Mills’ wise words that hit deep: “If you want to learn how to win, you must first learn how to lose.”

On January 9, 2024, Bolt celebrated the 20th anniversary of teaming up with Mills, reflecting on how that partnership completely transformed his career. Bolt wrote, “Shout out to my coach and mentor Glen Mills—20 years ago I started working with this legend, and it would change the course of my career and life. When I first came onto the professional scene as a sprinter, I thought it would be easy… He taught me the importance of learning from losing before I could get to the top. Infinite respect to Coach Mills for everything you taught me- Living legend.” The bond between them is pure respect, with Mills shaping not just Bolt’s career, but his whole life.

It started in late 2004, soon after the Athens Olympics when Glen Mills took Bolt under his wing. Their real breakthrough came in the 2007 Jamaican Championships when Bolt smashed Donald Quarrie’s 36-year-old 100m record by 0.11 seconds. And then came the 2008 Beijing Olympics—Mills and Bolt had a killer training program for the 100m and 200m, and boom, Olympic Gold was the result! Glen Mills wasn’t new to this, though. He’d already helped Ray Stewart bag silver in the 100m at the 1987 World Championships and coached Kim Collins to 100m gold in 2003. So indeed, Mills knew how to bring out the best in his athletes!