Bolt adamant he will silence doubters
Usain Bolt has officially started his attempt to obtain an A-League contract, walking on to Central Coast Stadium in front of a packed media contingent to strut his stuff.
Bolt, who arrived in Australia on Saturday, enjoyed a brief training session with the Central Coast Mariners.
A 15-minute passing drill was coach Mike Mulvey’s first chance to judge the Jamaican sprint superstar’s football skills, and he showed some nice touches in a light workout that lasted less than an hour.
Speaking to the media yesterday afternoon, Bolt said he fared pretty well for day one of training, which is always the toughest test, no matter what your sport.
“It’s just like track and field, the first day of training’s always the roughest one . . . but it felt OK,” Bolt said. “I’m not setting myself any targets, I’m just going to put in the work. I don’t know what to expect, so I’m just here to push myself, learn as much as possible. For me, it’s a blank slate. I’m here to learn and get better.”
Bolt said although his ultimate goal is to win a contract, he’s not setting the bar too high at this stage in his football journey, determined to first get his fitness up, then go from there.
He also said his temperament and understanding of the game are his biggest attributes, in addition to his speed, and he’s determined to prove the naysayers wrong.
“I’m very cool under pressure, that’s one thing,” Bolt said. “My ability to understand very quickly and learn the game is very good.
“I’ve expressed that I’m OK on the wing, I’m good at centre forward, but at the end of the day, he [the coach] will tell me what formation and where I’ll play.
“I don’t want to be treated as the world’s fastest man, I want to be treated as a footballer because that’s what I want to be. People will say a lot of things about me but I’ll prove them wrong.”
Asked about the challenge of getting his body in the right condition to play the round ball game rather than sprint 100m, Bolt said he thinks everything will be “relatively easy” once his fitness reaches the level it needs to be at.
“We’re taking it a step at a time, working on fitness, level by level, day by day, and then I will push myself.”
The renowned party boy said although he’s keen to enjoy the lifestyle Down Under, performing on the pitch is his No 1 priority and he’s adamant he will “respect the rules”.
Bolt, whose “indefinite” training period with the Mariners has resulted in unprecedented worldwide media coverage for the A-League, will be eased into his football duties.