The world’s fastest man Usain Bolt has revealed that the secret to his success is thinking about what he’s going to have for dinner at the start line of a race.
Bolt, who is believed to be the greatest sprinter of all time, tries to think about random things while he’s waiting for a race to start because athletes who think about what they’re about to do confuse themselves in the process.
The 38-year-old blames a false start he made in 2011 on failing to clear his mind.
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He told The High Performance Podcast: “For me, I never talk to myself.
“I always just try to think, if I’m just standing on the line and you see me looking, I’m trying to think about random things.
(Image: Getty Images for Hublot)
“Anything that can pop into my head, I try to think about it.
“You know what I mean, like probably what I’m going to have for dinner or if I’m going to play a video game or something that happened in the day.
“I try to distract myself from the moment because if you get into your head, that’s when you make mistakes.”
Bolt wasn’t able to defend his 100m title at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, after having a false start which there was zero tolerance for in the competition.
(Image: Getty Images)
He continued: “I made one mistake in 2011 when I false started and that was the issue.
“I was, because I had a bad season, and I was worried I was like am I going to start well?
“Am I ready?
“So the moment you start being in your head and start thinking, that’s when you make mistakes.
“So you have to try to clear your head, so for me, I try to think about random stuff and not think about the race.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Bolt has won nine Olympic gold medals, and holds the world record in the 100m, 200m, and 4 100m. He added: “So at the moment when the starter says on your marks, if you watch me, you see me take a deep breath, and then I try to clear my mind and listen.
“So that’s it, but when, a lot of athletes they think about it so much.
“Like ‘Ok, I need to swing my arms, I need to get my first step right, I need to get my start right’.
“And then you start confusing yourself and your mind is all over the place and that’s how you make mistakes.”
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