Fresh from his first training session with the Central Coast Mariners, the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, addressed a media pack at Central Coast Leagues Club on Tuesday, August 21.
With Mariners’ Head Coach, Mike Mulvey, at his side, Bolt’s message to the assembled media was simple: “I am ready for work”. “I am not setting any targets, I am here to push myself and learn as much as possible,” the eight-time Olympic Gold Medallist said of his open-ended training stint. When asked why he had chosen the Mariners, Bolt said he had considered arrangements with clubs in Spain and France, but there was a language barrier. He said he enjoyed Australia and “the Mariners decided to give me the opportunity”.
Usain Bolt described himself as “very cool under pressure” and said his other strengths were his ability to understand things very quickly. However, he kept coming back to the key message which was, he had to work on his basic skills and the rest was “up to the coach”. He will be taking things “one step at a time” and “day by day” and wants to be treated “like a worker, a footballer,” he said. Bolt was asked to respond to the media chatter that his stint with the Mariners was a marketing stunt. “I’m here,” he said with an enormous grin. “People can say what they want to say.” When asked about his reputation for partying and whether he would be tucked up in bed at 10pm every night, he said: “I am a professional footballer now, you know what I mean”. Bolt’s love of football is obvious.
He said he started playing as a goalkeeper in primary school and “moved forward” as he got older. He played centre back and on the wing during high school, and was playing centre forward, his preferred position, by the time he completed high school. “I always played six-aside with all my friends twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday,” he said. He is a “massive fan” of English Premier League Club, Manchester United. “Football has always been a passion of mine,” he said. As for whether locals should be shy if they see him at any of their favourite Central Coast spots, he said, “Fans build clubs, they make sport what it is, and I try to always give back. “Some people just want to have a conversation, that’s all they want,” he said.
Mariners’ Head Coach, Mike Mulvey, was taken aback when he entered the room to see rows of TV cameras on tripods, and dozens of photographers and journalists eagerly awaiting the arrival of Bolt. Mulvey said he hoped “all the people here today would hopefully come back for a normal training session.” He described Bolt as a “fantastic athlete, and we are absolutely delighted to have him here.” Usain Bolt’s presence was far from the biggest challenge of Mulvey’s training career, he said, pointing to Central Coast Mariners’ record, stuck at the bottom of the ladder, in recent years. “This club has overachieved in the 14 years of the A-League,” he said, but unfortunately that had not been the case in the lead-up to his appointment as head coach. He said he believed the Mariners had been “used to losing”, so he needed to lift the bar and described the Mariners as being in a rebuilding phase. Mulvey said the club needed to be “innovative and creative”, and that Chairman, Mike Charlesworth, was OK with that.
“How much more innovative and creative can you be than bringing Usain Bolt here for a trial,” he said. He described, Bolt, as “a winner”, and said that required “great mental capacity”, and added he would be happy if Bolt “could pass any of that on to my players as they are coming out of the cellar”. Bolt would be treated as “one of the lads” with “no special treatment”, Mulvey said. He was unlikely to select the track and field superstar for the trial match against Newcastle being staged at Maitland on Saturday, August 25, but said Bolt may be a chance for the Central Coast Select match, to be played at Central Coast Stadium, on Friday, August 31.
Usain Bolt said he was adjusting to the climate, he trained in track pants, gloves and beany, but said the community had welcomed him with warmth. Mulvey said if it took 12 months for Bolt to be ready for a contract, he would be quite content with that. Bolt said he would not be disappointed if the Coach said he was not good enough, but ever-confident, finished the marathon press conference by saying, he was “looking forward to bringing home the trophy”.
Source: Media conference, Aug 21 Usain Bolt, Central Coast Mariners Mike Mulvey, Central Coast Mariners Jackie Pearson, journalist