Usain Bolt to debut for Australian football team

SYDNEY, Aug. 28 — After unrivaled success at three Olympic Games you might think an eight-time Olympic gold medalist would want to step away from the grind of professional sports and relax. That’s not the case for Usain Bolt.
The 32-year-old former sprinter hit the training pitch at Gosford on one of the coldest mornings of the year on Tuesday, to prepare for his first match of the Australian pre-season with his newly adopted football club, the Central Coast Mariners.
“I’m happy to be part of a team that works so hard and pushes themselves,” Bolt told Xinhua.
“In the first week, we took it easy at the start… but this week we are trying to get me through the full program and just getting up to pace because coming this Friday I will get a chance to play.”
Expected to be the largest ever pre-season match in the history of Australian football, the Mariners will take on a Central Coast Select side made up of the most talented local players from lower leagues.
Although a warm up match like this would not normally draw the attention of many fans, with ‘Bolt-mania’ sweeping through the waterside community, the club predicts around 12,000 fans will be on hand to see the action.
One local newspaper has even printed several thousand Usain Bolt face masks for fans to wear to the game.
When asked if all the added media attention has been difficult for the players, the Mariners’ newly recruited star striker Matt Simon said the team enjoyed the unusual pre-season build up.
“It is not a distraction, the boys are professional footballers and they have to deal with that sort of thing. It is great that he is here for the club and the Central Coast as a community,” Simon said.
Despite being spotted on the left wing at the training ground this morning, it is still not clear what position the Jamaican sensation will play or how much time he will get on the field.
“I think [I’ll play] maybe the last 20 or 15 minutes just to get a feel, but it is all up to the coaching staff to determine how long I can play,” Bolt said.
While he admitted it has been extremely challenging getting used to the multi-directional body movement needed in football, Bolt said he can already feel the improvement.
“This is why we started putting me through the full drill,” he said.
“Last week I did half the program, now I’m doing the full program with the guys, so it shows I’m getting better so all I have to do is continue pushing myself.” – XINHUA