Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is arguably the fastest man in the

world, winning three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in

Beijing, China, and becoming the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter races in record times. Bolt won his fourth Olympic gold medal in the men's 100-meter race at the 2012 Summer

Olympic Games in London, beating rival Yohan Blake, who took silver.

Bolt ran the race in 9.63 seconds, a new Olympic record. The win marked

Bolt's second consecutive gold medal in the 100. Bolt went on to compete in the men's 200, claiming his second

consecutive gold medal in that race. He is the first man to win both the 100 and 200 at consecutive Olympic Games, as

well as the first man to ever win back-to-back gold medals in double sprints.

Early Life

Usain Bolt was born in Jamaica on August 21, 1986. Both a remarkable cricket player and a sprinter early

on, Bolt’s natural speed was noticed by coaches at school, and he began to focus solely on sprinting

under the tutelage of Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete. As early as age 14, Bolt was wowing fans of

sprinting with his lightning speed, and he won his first high school championships medal in 2001, taking the silver

in the 200-meter race.

At the age of 15, Bolt took his first shot at success on the world stage at the 2002 World Junior Championships in

Kingston, Jamaica, where he won the 200-meter dash, making him the youngest world-junior gold medalist ever. Bolt’s

feats impressed the athletics world, and he received the International Association of Athletics Foundation’s Rising Star

Award that year and soon was given the apt nickname “Lightning Bolt.”

Professional Career

The year 2007 proved to be a breakthrough one for Bolt, as he broke the national 200-meter record held for

over 30 years by Donald Quarrie, and earned two silver medals at the World Championship in Osaka, Japan. These

medals boosted Bolt's desire to run, and he took a more serious stance toward his career.

Olympic Gold

Bolt announced that he would run the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the Beijing Summer Olympics. In the

100-meter final, Bolt broke the world record, winning in 9.69 seconds. Not only was the record set

without a favorable wind, but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished (and his shoelace was untied),

an act that aroused much controversy later on.

"It's what I came here to do. I'm now a legend. I'm also the greatest

athlete to live. I've got nothing left to prove."

Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

Reading

comprehension

Right or Wrong - Justify with the text. Right Wrong

1) Usain Bolt has won 4 gold medals. □ □

look at the purple quotation (regardez la citation en violet dans le texte)

2) He was born in the Caribbean. □ □

Jamaica is in the Carribean…………………………………………………………………………………………………

3) He won his first medal at the Olympic games. □ □

look at the quotation in red…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4) Usain Bolt runs the 100-meter in less than 10 seconds. □ □

Loot at the green quotation ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5) Usain Bolt feels high. He knows he is good. □ □

Loot at the orange quotation ……………………………………………………………………………

Answer these questions : 1) What has he done for the first time in history?

Look at the quotation in pink…………………………………………………………………………………

2) What was the first sport he practiced?

Look at the quotation in brown ……………………………………………………………………………………

3) Who was the first to notice Usain Bolt’s speed?

Look at the quotation in turquoise …………………………………………………………

4) When did he get his first medal ? How old was he?

… look at the quotation in red ………………………………………………………………………………

5) Explique en français ce qui s’est passé de particulier lors de sa victoire aux Jeux Olympiques de Pékin.

(Donne au moins deux éléments.)

Dans le dernier paragraphe : Il a couru le 100m en moins de 10 secondes, avec un lacet défait, un vent

défavorable et s’est permis le luxe de ralentir avant la fin.

10 facts about Jamaica :

1) Capital : Kingston

2) Languages : English and Jamaican creole

3) Currency (money) : Jamaican dollar

4) Location (where is it ?) : in the Antilles, between North and South America, south

of Cuba, in the Carribean

5) Who discovered it ? Christopher Columbus in 1494

6) Jamaica was first a Spanish colony and then a British colony.

7) It became independant in 1962.

8) Slavery was abolished in 1834.

9) Another famous Jamaican : Bob Marley

10) Draw the flag and explain its colours : yellow for the sun, black

for the strong people, green for the vegetation