Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt recently revealed that he considered coming out of retirement after being offered a lucrative deal by Björn Gulden, the then-CEO of Puma, two years after he hung up his spikes in 2017. The revelation came during an interview on Drive on talkSPORT ahead of the Soccer Aid 2024 charity match.
Soccer Aid 2024 took place at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium on Sunday, June 9, where Bolt once again captain the World XI FC team.
Speaking with talkSPORT ahead of his sixth Soccer Aid match, Bolt expressed his enthusiasm for football and the annual charity event. Despite his undeniable love for football, it was in track and field where Bolt truly made his mark. The conversation shifted to sprinting, where the eight-time Olympic gold medallist disclosed that he considered a return to the sport following his retirement in 2017.
Bolt shared that two years after retiring, he was approached with an enticing offer by Adidas CEO Björn Gulden, who was the Chief Executive of Puma at the time. Although the idea of returning to the track intrigued him, Bolt’s coach was firmly against it.
“My coach told me, he said to me, ‘Listen, if you’re gonna retire, that’s it. I’m not gonna coach you again. This is it; there’s no coming back after this.’ So when I went to him, he was like, ‘No, absolutely not,’” Bolt explained. “I would do it because when you go away from the sport then you start missing it.”
Bolt admitted that he still misses being on the track and believes he could have performed better than some of the current athletes. Regarding his unbeaten 100m record, Bolt remains confident that it will stand for some time. He acknowledged the talent of American sprinter Noah Lyles, noting that while Lyles is improving, he is not yet at the level needed to break Bolt’s record.
Commonwealth champion Sada Williams to headline Barbados National Championships
Two-time World Championship bronze medalist and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sada Williams headlines a star-studded list of Barbados’s top athletes set to compete at their National Track and Field Championships from June 21-23.
Williams, who trains at the MVP Track Club in Jamaica under the tutelage of Stephen Francis, is her country’s biggest medal hopeful for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games having already qualified.
The 26-year-old will contest the women’s 400m event at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex in Bridgetown.
The Bajan national record holder has, so far, had a sub-par 2024 season by her lofty standards, failing to dip below 50 seconds in all five of her 400m races.
Her season’s best 50.71 came at the Oslo Diamond League on May 30.
Williams created history at 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon by winning 400m bronze in a then-personal best and national record 49.75 seconds.
Later that year, Williams became the first woman to run under 50 seconds at the Commonwealth Games with 49.90 to capture gold. She closed out 2022 with a third-place finish at the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 49.98.
She followed up that fantastic season with another bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Williams produced a personal best and national record 49.58 in the semi-finals before returning to run slightly slower in the final, 49.60, to claim consecutive bronze medals.
Also confirmed for the Barbados nationals are Olympians Mario Burke and Tristan Evelyn who are expected to contest the men’s and women’s 100m events respectively.
Burke, 27, has a personal best of 9.98 done back in 2019 and was an Olympian in Tokyo in 2021. In 2016, he took home 100m bronze at the World Junior Championships in Poland in 10.26. He has a season's best of 10.22 done at the Last Chance Sprint Series on June 7 in Sherman Oakes, California.
Hurdlers Tia-Adana Belle and Rasheeme Griffith are also among the big names, along with quarter miler Desean Boyce and former CARIFTA sprinters Julian Forde and Kishawna Niles.
Griffith, a senior at the University on Tennessee, established a new 400m hurdles national record of 48.79 in the heats at the SEC Championships on May 9.
CARIFTA Games gold medalist Layla Haynes and Hannah Connell as well as national javelin record holder Kayla Thorpe are also set to compete.
Poland 1-3 Austria: Baumgartner and Arnautovic get Rangnick's men up and running
Austria got off the mark at Euro 2024 with a 3-1 victory over Poland, with second-half goals from Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic deciding an entertaining contest.
Austria flew out of the traps in Berlin as Poland struggled to get an early foothold, and Ralf Rangnick's team led within nine minutes. Phillipp Mwene delivered a pinpoint cross from the left, and Gernot Trauner powered his header home at the near post.
Poland should have levelled within nine further minutes, only for Nicola Zalewski to lift a wild effort over the crossbar. However, they did get their equaliser on the half-hour mark.
A fortunate deflection off Trauner saw the ball fall to Krzysztof Piatek, who kept his composure to slot into the bottom-right corner and reward Poland's improvement.
Having missed last week's defeat to the Netherlands with a thigh injury, Poland talisman Robert Lewandowski was introduced from the bench on the hour mark, but it was Austria who regained the lead seven minutes later through Baumgartner.
Arnautovic dummied Alexander Prass' ball infield, allowing Baumgartner to send Wojciech Szczesny the wrong way with a composed finish from the edge of the box.
Arnautovic then made the points safe from the penalty spot with 12 minutes remaining, converting into the bottom-right corner after Marcel Sabitzer had raced clear and been felled by Szczesny.
Austria should have had a fourth late on as Konrad Laimer shot across the face of goal after rounding Szczesny, but their victory means avoiding defeat against the Netherlands next Tuesday would likely send them through to the last 16.
Data Debrief: Arnautovic on the spot
At the age of 35 years and 63 days, Arnautovic became the third-oldest player to score a penalty at the Euros, after Ivica Vastic (38 years, 257 days) and Cristiano Ronaldo (three penalties scored at the age of 36).
A surprise inclusion after being benched for Austria's 1-0 loss to France, the Inter man led the line impressively, winning seven of his nine total duels and drawing three fouls.
Garwin Tulloch, USG on board as Portmore United announce new leadership, board of directors
Many-time Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions Portmore United have added United Sports Group (USG) and Garwin Tulloch to its ownership group, as the club continues to chart a course towards reclaiming its glory days at the pinnacle of the nation’s top-flight league.
USG is a consortium comprising Tina Matalon, Ryan Reid, Khary Robinson, Duncan Stewart and Jackie Lechler, all prominent and successful Jamaican business leaders across various sectors, while Tulloch is a director of Kemtek Development & Construction Company Limited.
Kemtek, a family business, and one of Jamaica’s leading home construction companies, boasts major investments in the development of commercial and residential properties across various Jamaican communities including the sprawling metropolitan Portmore community.
For Portmore United, the addition of these new investors will strengthen the operational and financial capacity of the club, which is one of Jamaica’s marquee clubs and the most successful in the JPL, having won seven titles –the first two as Hazard United in 1993 and 2003.
The JPL has increased in popularity over the years and even more so in the post pandemic period, under the Chris Williams-led Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL). During this time, the PFJL has seen tremendous growth in the League’s commercial viability and the economic prospects of the Clubs.
This expansion of an increasingly sophisticated investor pool facilitates the collective vision of the PFJL and the JPL clubs, which is to enhance the financial and operational capacity of the Clubs. The path to achieve that includes leveraging existing revenue streams like sponsorships, player sales, broadcasting, digital media, merchandizing and increased gate receipts, through additional investments in infrastructure, something that USG’s Khary Robinson is pleased to be a part of.
“United Sports Group believes that this strategic investment will further empower Portmore United Football Club to achieve even greater football success and become a catalyst for positive community development. Our leadership group is committed to delivering the time, strategic support and capital to enable the PUFC brand to maximize its potential in the sporting industry commercial space,” Robinson said.
Tulloch echoed similar sentiments.
“Football has remained one of my great passions and the desire to give back to the community through the sport has always been a driving force for me personally. My association with the JPL through Kemtek sponsorship of the League, led me to an association with the principals of Portmore United Football Club,” Tulloch shared.
“From the onset I was impressed with the vision and professionalism across the organization and the decision to invest was a no brainer for me. It is an association that I’m confident will yield great benefits to the various stakeholders of the Club,” he added.
Consequent on the additional ownership compliment, Portmore United’s new Board of Directors, will see Tulloch serving as chairman, with Garfield Sinclair, Peter Baker, Khary Robinson, Clinton Brooks and Garth Pearce, the memebers.
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