Usain Bolt's mother recalls 'strong' baby

Usain Bolt might be fast now, but you should have seen him when he was a baby, his mother said Friday as the Jamaican superstar sought to make new Olympic history.

"After three weeks he was pushing because he was so strong," Jennifer Bolt told journalists in Rio.

"One day, I left him on the bed and when I came back he was close to falling off, so from here I was saying, 'What kind of child he is?" she recalled.

By the age of 12, Bolt was the fastest in his school. "He was always on top," she said.

Bolt's parents predicted the sprinter will deliver in his Olympics swansong. He is gunning to repeat his 2008 and 2012 exploits with a "Treble Treble" of gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

"He's upbeat because he said it will be his last Olympics and he wants to go in glory, so you can expect great things from him," his father Wellesley Bolt said.

Asked where their son gets his phenomenal athletic prowess -- and entertainment value -- the Bolts were modest about their own influence.

"I think this was a natural talent," Jennifer Bolt said, although she thought a diet rich in Jamaican yams couldn't have hurt.

"I don't know if a secret, but I know it's good," she said.

But "probably the dance moves is from me," joked Wellesley Bolt.

Source: AFP