Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is still known as the fastest man alive.<\/p>\n
Though he retired in 2017 (and had lost a race or two), the eight-time Olympic gold medalist currently holds the official world record for both the men's 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, which he achieved at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. He ran the 100-meter in 9.58 seconds and the 200-meter in 19.19 seconds. And he was part of the 4×100-meter world-record-holding relay team at the London 2012 summer Olympics.<\/p>\n
Bolt\u00a0is also the only sprinter to have win\u00a0100-meter and 200-meter titles at three consecutive Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n
But sprinting isn't just a physical sport, says Bolt, 34. It's a mental game, too.<\/p>\n
"It's 50\/50," Bolt tells CNBC Make It. "You can be really fit but if you're not mentally prepared for the challenge ahead, at times, you will fail."<\/p>\n
For Bolt, it's about not getting "into his head." When he does, that's when he makes mistakes, he says.<\/p>\n
"Because at times you get into your head and you start thinking about your weaknesses," Bolt says.<\/p>\n
Bolt's weakness is his start and making his first step quickly, he says.<\/p>\n
So "I tend to randomly think about anything else but the race" at the track, he says. "I might think about playing video games or what I might have [to eat] after the race." Sometimes he thinks about how he will celebrate if he wins, he says.<\/p>\n
"These are the things [I use] to distract myself before a race," he says, "because when they say, 'on your marks,' you have no time think about anything else."<\/p>\n
Once Bolt is running, he says he experiences "flow," an optimal state of consciousness that athletes often describe as a sense of oneness with whatever task they are doing when they are not worried about failure or other distractions.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes, it's like time is moving slow" when he's running and in "flow," Bolt says.<\/p>\n
He also focuses on making sure he executes the plan that he and his coach Glen Mills discussed earlier that day.<\/p>\n
But as much as Bolt is mentally and physically prepared as a world-class sprinter, he also attributes his success to his love of running.<\/p>\n
"I enjoyed the process. I had fun while doing it. Yes, it was work but for me, it really wasn't 'work,'" Bolt says.<\/p>\n
After four years of not racing, Bolt announced Tuesday that he plans to run an 800-meter race live at his home track in Kingston, Jamaica on July 13 to promote the used car website CarMax, as a spokesperson.<\/p>\n
Though he hasn't been racing, Bolt does hit the track.<\/p>\n
"I have a bet with my friends because they feel in a couple of years, I'm going to be fat," Bolt says. So he runs at least two times a week and does aerobic workouts in between to stay in shape, he says.<\/p>\n
He also avoids late-night snacking. "I try to eat no later than 8 p.m.," he says.<\/p>\n
On Father's Day, Bolt announced the birth of his twin sons with his partner Kasi Bennett in an Instagram post. In 2020, the pair welcomed their first child, Olympia Lightning.<\/p>\n