Bolt at football: Black car, no companions

Bolt will take part in training with the first division club Central Coast Mariners in Australia for an indefinite period of time in order to pursue a hoped-for career as a footballer.

“He made it a point to be picked up by a black car,” Mariners general manager Shaun Mielekamp told the Sydney Daily Telegraph: “Other than that he had no wishes whatsoever, he doesn’t want private bodyguards, he doesn’t want a personal masseur, he doesn’t want a chauffeur. He doesn’t want water specially bottled in France either, just a black car.”

Bolt will be without his usual entourage in Australia. “Just Usain and his manager, and he’s already here,” said Mielekamp. There will be no luxury limousine waiting for Bolt at Sydney airport: “He will drive a Hyundai from our team sponsor like everyone else in the club, and he will be treated like any other player. There are no extras for Usain, but that’s not what he wants.”

The eight-time Olympic champion Bolt caused a stir with a PR-effective training session with the Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in March and practiced for a week with the Norwegian first division club Strömsgodset IF in June. However, Bolt does not yet have a longer commitment like the one planned in New South Wales.

Bolt ended his athletics career last year. The Manchester United fan's plan to become a serious professional footballer still seems unrealistic. Still, the Mariners don't see working with Bolt as a "gimmick or campaign," Mielekamp said. Although he is “excited to see what this means for our region,” the most important thing is “to take care of an athlete who wants to become a professional.”

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Bolt at football: Black car, no companions

A black car to pick him up from the airport is the only wish former sprint superstar Usain Bolt expressed before arriving in Sydney.

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