Usain Bolt is not like other mortals, said Mark Bailey in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). In fact, he’s not even like other champion sprinters. With his long legs, he takes 41 steps to complete the 100 meters; his rivals take 44. He also has an unusually high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which produce explosive speed. “Because my running style looks effortless, a lot of people think I’m lazy,” says the Jamaican track star. “I say to them, ‘See you in the morning at 6 a.m., come and watch me train.’” Off the track, Bolt takes life at a far more leisurely pace. He surrounds himself with old friends, and when he’s not training, he hangs out with them at his Kingston mansion. He hates doing chores. “Once a year, I will clean my room, just because I feel I should,” he says. Not surprisingly, he loses things. He left his Olympic gold medals in a New York hotel room—but later recovered them—and found his world championship medals in his closet after a year of searching. Bolt has hired a chef to keep him on the culinary straight and narrow and away from his favorite junk food. “My coach informs him what to cook, and it’s not KFC,” he says, glumly. “He does what he is told and so do I.”
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