Usain Bolt has run sprints faster than anyone in the world, and he may do it again in the Rio Olympics. But apparently, he has never gone the extra mile ― or any mile, in fact.
The New Yorker reports that the Jamaican star has, “in fact, never tried running that far.”
“Usain has never run a mile,” his agent, Ricky Simms, told the magazine.
Let’s let that sink in for a moment. Not even in grade school? Not even on a dare? Not even to satisfy his own curiosity?
The two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter and 200-meter races doesn’t need to run a mile, of course. Sprinters generally hone their craft by running repeated intervals of much shorter distances.
But that doesn’t stop the curious from wondering whether a man of Bolt’s prodigious speed could clock a decent mile. The New Yorker tracked a bit of the guessing as the Games near, but we just can’t get past the fact that Bolt has never put those long legs to the 5,280-foot test.
Maybe when he’s done (perhaps) making history in Rio, he can give it a shot. But then again, why bother?
Here’s a world-record reminder of why Usain Bolt doesn’t need to run a mile, even if we’re curious: