Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, still the fastest man in history over 100 and 200 meters, is chasing his soccer dream again by signing for a famous amateur team in England.
Bolt won 14 World Championship medals during his track career, 11 of them gold. He completed an unprecedented Olympic sprint "triple triple" in 2016, taking 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay golds at three separate Games, though he lost one of the relay medals in 2017 when a teammate was found guilty of a doping violation from nine years earlier.
Bolt, now 40, has always been drawn to soccer. In 2016 he said he wanted to become a professional player once he finished with running, and that playing for his favorite club, Manchester United, "would be like a dream come true."
That move never happened at Old Trafford, but Bolt tried out for Borussia Dortmund in 2018. He also trained that year in Norway with Strømsgodset, Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard's first club, and with Central Coast Mariners in Australia's A-League. He scored twice in a friendly against a local amateur side for the Mariners and was offered a contract, although critics labeled it disrespectful toward other genuine professionals in the division.
Bolt ultimately lasted eight weeks with the Mariners without making an official appearance.
Going pro might have been a pipe dream and a publicity stunt for the clubs who gave him a chance, but Bolt was clearly still able to play to a high standard.
He now has another opportunity to show his skills on a soccer field. His name appears on the official FA-registered player list for Wythenshawe FC Veterans, a Greater Manchester team competing in the Cheshire Veterans League.
The team operates for players aged 35 or over, but Wythenshawe Vets have become something of a cult phenomenon because their squad is packed with former professionals.
Bolt's registered teammates include Antonio Valencia, former Manchester United captain and two-time Premier League champion. Marc Albrighton, Danny Simpson and Danny Drinkwater all won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2015-16, while Joleon Lescott won it twice with Manchester City.
Ex-Liverpool and England striker Emile Heskey is also on the list, alongside former Newcastle United striker Papiss Cissé, who scored the Premier League's 2011-12 Goal of the Season.
Stephen Ireland, Nedum Onuoha, Maynor Figueroa, Oumar Niasse, Kyle Bartley, Ciaran Clark, Paul McShane and Keiren Westwood all played in the Premier League at one point. Several other players in the Wythenshawe squad had noted EFL careers, including Rory Fallon, who scored the goal that qualified New Zealand for the 2010 World Cup.
Wythenshawe Vets have not yet made any announcement about Bolt, but in recent days the club has been publicizing its lineup for 2026-27 in a series of social media posts.
Jamie Spencer is a writer and editor for SI FC. He grew up in Manchester, England, in the 1990s and fell in love with the game at the same time the Premier League was taking off. With more than a decade of experience in sports media, he specializes in Manchester United and the overall Premier League, still living in England's north-west soccer hotbed. Jamie is also an expert on the women's game and enjoys old school nostalgia, telling stories from soccer's rich history and culture.
Source: www.si.com — Read the original article
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