• Athletics

Bolt's Beijing victory fuelled by 1000 chicken nuggets

ESPN staff
November 4, 2013
Usain Bolt has revealed the origins of his trademark celebration in his new memoir © PA Photos
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Usain Bolt's triple Olympic triumph in Beijing was fuelled by 1,000 McDonalds chicken McNuggets, according to his new autobiography.

The 100m and 200m world record holder, who repeated his sprint treble at London 2012, found Chinese food so "odd" that he stuck with the fast food chain's wares for the duration of his stay in China.

Writing in Faster Than Lightning, the Jamaican's new memoir released next week, Bolt, then 22, admits to finishing off 100 McNuggets per day.

"At first I ate a box of 20 for lunch, then another for dinner. The next day I had two boxes for breakfast, one for lunch and then another couple in the evening. I even grabbed some fries and an apple pie to go with it," he writes.

The 10-day stint in Beijing saw him eat 1,000 chunks of chicken. "Man, I should have gotten a gold medal for all that chowing down," he writes.

According to Medical Daily, that equates to roughly 59,000 calories, three kilograms of protein and four kilograms of fat. He consumed 2220 mg of sodium each day, or about five times the daily recommended intake.

Bolt's latest memoir also reveals that his signature move wasn't his idea. The archer celebration was devised with a dance instructor friend. "I'd made a deal that if I won the 100, I would bust some crazy dance move," he admits. "It was called 'Di World.'"

The six-time Olympic champion had a 'don't-ask-don't-tell' with one girlfriend after his breakthrough triumph - the pair are no longer together - and almost saw one of his medals disappear when he kept the baton after the 4x100m relay in London.

"The Olympics is over!" Bolt told the official as he tried to sneak off with the baton. "You're going to be disqualified if you don't give me back the baton!" the official said.

Just as Bolt was about to hand it over, another official came over and insisted that he keep it.

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