Usain Bolt put his name in the history books back in 2008 when he broke three world records.
Now, if you were unaware of what the 38-year-old had eaten all those years ago, you’d probably imagine he was dining on plenty of fish, bananas and oranges – I’d say beans on toast but that’s the English coming out in me.
But no, incredibly a 21-year-old Bolt incorporated a diet of 100 chicken nuggets from McDonald’s every single day during the Beijing 2008 Olympics where he became a triple gold medallist – before the third was ultimately stripped from him.
On August 16, 2008, he broke his own world record in the 100m he had set of 9.72 seconds just months prior to that.
Having gotten off to a slow start, the athlete kicked it up a gear and stormed ahead by the 50-metre mark before going on to win and set a world record of 9.69 seconds – although he was criticized for celebrating before crossing the line… but can you blame him?
At the end of the race, the world was shocked to find that he did it all with his laces untied.
So why did Bolt have a diet of 100 McNuggets every day during the Beijing 2008 Olympics?
Well, in his 2010 autobiography, The Fastest Man Alive, Bolt explained: “Honestly, I ate nothing else in all my time out in China except chicken nuggets.
“They were the only food I could properly trust which wouldn’t affect my stomach. On arriving at the training camp I’d tried a local Chinese meal, which wasn’t like the ones we we eat in the West, and my body didn’t react well.”
He continued: “So, knowing I could rely on nuggets, I made up my mind that was all I would eat. And eat them I did, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, washed down with bottled water.”
Then in another autobiography, Faster than Lightning (2013), Bolt revealed he did try some local cuisine when he returned to the Chinese capital for the 2015 World Championships.
“Man, I should have gotten a gold medal for all that chowing down,” he wrote.
“They really are providing a lot better food here than in 2008, so no chicken nuggets for me this year.”
Just four days after winning his first gold medal in the 100m, he took part in the 200m (August 20, 2008), and again set a world record of 19.30 seconds but notably didn’t celebrate before crossing the line this time.
Then he finished it off on August 22, 2008, with a gold medal and world record in the 4x100m relay with 37.10 seconds, as he teamed up with Michael Frater, Asafa Powell and Nesta Carter – who would ultimately let his compatriots down.
A urine sample of Carter’s was re-tested nine years later in 2017, and it was found to contain traces of a banned substance.
