Usain Bolt, a name that is not unknown to anyone, dominated the sprinting world, and his legacy is untouched. Yet, even for the fastest man alive, success brought its challenges, as his drive to keep winning began to wane. But just when the world was wondering about Bolt losing his edge, a fire of motivation ignited in him. How did that happen, you may ask?

American sprinter Justin Alexander Gatlin’s bold statement fierced the rivalry between two sprinting stars; that added a new competition. Gatlin’s challenge ignited a spark in Bolt that led his dwindling passion into one of renewed determination. The question remains: What exactly did Gatlin say when Bolt expressed, “There’s No Way?”

How Usain Bolt lost motivation after reaching the top

Can you imagine that an athlete like Bolt could become demotivated and lose the desire to do anything productive? But it did happen, and Bolt has admitted the same in the recent podcast to “High Performance.” Despite being on top, having a world record with 19.19 seconds, Bolt started demotivated and faced many problems. What is it?

Throughout his 13-year professional career, Usain Bolt earned several titles, made records, and much more. But with time, things changed. Bolt faced many injuries in his career, including a hamstring injury in March 2006 that forced him to withdraw from the then Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. That’s not all; the world record holder suffered another injury in March 2014, which led to missing nine weeks of his training. However, Bolt recovered and came back into the game; still, he appeared as a reduced figure as he struggled a lot.

After reaching the top, Bolt’s injury with a tough training schedule made him feel drained. But being an athlete, there is always a fire to win that resides inside. And that happened when Bolt heard a bold statement by his biggest rival, Justin Gatlin. To the demotivation or downfall, Bolt also confessed, “And I was; every day was work. And I got injured, and it was double the work. So for me, it was hard to motivate myself every day.”

From setting a record in the 100m at 9.58 seconds to becoming a global icon, his legacy was secure. But Usain Bolt needed something beyond medals and records, and that happened with Gatlin’s challenge. That generated a desire to win and rekindled him to do something. What must have been the statement or words by Gatlin that worked as a motivation to Bolt?

Gatlin’s challenge renewed Bolt’s determination

Justin Gatlin’s confidence is as bold as his performances on the track, and being an accomplished sprinter himself, he might have posed a threat to Bolt. While doing a podcast with High Performance, Usain Bolt said, “There is one thing I remember in 20, in 2016, it was my last coming up to my last Olympics. And my biggest competitor was Justin Gatlin. And shortly after I was, I was struggling with motivation because I had won everything. You know what I mean? And it was at the end, and I was like, going to training, and the older you get, the heartache gets, and I was like, I was just tired.” It shows how Gatin’s words must have made Bolt feel to be active.

When asked in a podcast, which is stronger: a desire to win or a fear of losing? Bolt responded, “Wow. Wow. For me it is, I think the desire to win, I think you wanna win so bad. Like with me, I want to, I’ve always wanted to win. And that’s what drives me. My competition.”

The exact word or moment that changed Bolt was, “And I remember watching a video that it was on a podcast at the time, and they were saying, oh, are you gonna win? And he said, yeah, I’m gonna win. And that for me did it for me. It lights the fire. And I was like, yeah, you’re not gonna win. So it kinda lit a fire. That’s how competitive I was.” Bolt also thanked to the old podcast, saying, “You know what I mean? If he, if he probably didn’t, if I probably didn’t see that video, it probably would’ve been different. But I saw that video and it helped to motivate me to say, all right, you know what?” That’s how Gatlin’s bold statement about defeating Bolt hit him.

Bolt even expressed what he felt after that: “I need to get to train. I need to do this because there’s no way I’m gonna allow him to beat me. So that’s how competitive I am.” Usain Bolt’s career began in 2004, and even after retiring in 2017, he ran for small stints till 2019. Bolt has so much to give to aspiring athletes, and fans always look forward to what he is going to do next, even after his retirement.