Usain Bolt’s three gold medals and three world records at the Olympic Games were far and away 2008’s biggest sports story. Then came those glorious, jaw-dropping performances in Beijing: 100m in 9.69, 200m in 19.30, and a leg on the relay team that ran 4x100m in 37.10. Athletics fans around the world know the details well. But it wasn’t all Bolt’s efforts that made him reach the peak. The patient expertise of veteran coach Glen Mills has been guiding Bolt’s career to new limits since 2004.

Usain Bolt appeared on The Cut podcast on February 22nd, hosted by Wayne ‘Marshall’ Mitchell, and when asked about his ex-coach Glen Mills, he had nothing but praise for him. “He understands running and farming and mechanics and technical things. So him just, his mind is just great, man. Like a science,” Bolt said. Mills, who, incredibly, has been coaching since the age of 14, was already well-established before he started training Bolt. In 2007, he encouraged Bolt to train for the 400m to better prepare for his pet event, the 200m. However, Bolt had other plans—he wanted to focus on the 100m.

That year, Bolt ran his first professional 100m, clocking 10.03 seconds. He initially wanted to be a 200m specialist, but now credits Mills for developing his explosive power in the 100m. A distance in which he set the world record of 9.58 seconds in 2009, a record that remains unbroken until now.

Bolt further adds, “Coach is like a second father. I understand him. Anything that’s going on in my life, I can go to him and say, Coach, you know this is going on. We can sit down and talk. He’s a man who will show up and come and link me. I will sit down and just have conversations, not about track and field, but about life in general. Okay. But one thing I always try, is when he changed my life, he saw him work. When he told me, he said, you have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win.“

Later in his career, Bolt went on to become the seventh man in history to win Olympic gold in both the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Games in Beijing. He repeated this feat at London 2012 and Rio 2016—making him the only athlete in history to achieve a three-peat in these two sprint events. While Glen Mills does not have a single athletics medal of his own, his coaching abilities have left a permanent mark on track and field sports. His Racer’s Track Club athletes have won a total of 71 medals at the IAAF World Championships and another 33 medals at Olympic competitions. Nineteen of those medals belong to Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history.

Usain Bolt’s success story is incomplete without acknowledging Glen Mills’ influence. More than just a coach, Mills was a mentor, guide, and father figure to Bolt. From an eager 200m specialist to a world-record-breaking sprinter, Bolt’s journey under Mills proves that behind every great athlete, there’s an even greater coach pushing them toward greatness. Mills’ deep understanding of sprinting mechanics and his ability to nurture talent helped shape Bolt into the legend he is today.

When Glen Mills Was Worried About Usain Bolt’s Mechanics

Usain Bolt was an extremely gifted athlete even before Glen Mills started coaching him. However, when Mills began working with him, one major flaw stood out—his poor mechanics. Bolt was running behind his center of balance, which created a negative force against his forward drive and affected multiple areas of his performance. This flaw was hindering his potential to reach peak efficiency on the track.

For instance, his body position put significant pressure on his lower back, causing a continual shift in his hip girdle and placing an unnecessary strain on his hamstring. This persistent hamstring issue was one of the major concerns Mills identified. To correct this, Mills focused on Bolt’s posture, ensuring his upper body core aligned with his center of mass or had a forward lean of approximately 5-10 degrees. Mills introduced specific drills, recorded Bolt’s workouts, and meticulously analyzed them in slow motion to help Bolt understand and correct his form.

By the time Bolt dominated the Beijing Olympics, he had mastered the technique that Mills had been refining for two years. The adjustments in his mechanics contributed significantly to his record-breaking performances in the 100m and 200m events. Glen Mills’ deep understanding of sprint mechanics played a critical role in Usain Bolt’s rise to greatness. By identifying and correcting Bolt’s biomechanical inefficiencies, Mills helped transform him from a talented runner into the fastest man in history.