Usain Bolt’s teammate from the 2012 London Olympics aspires to make his fans smile at the Paris Olympics. However, in his childhood, he could barely go to school. As astonishing as it might sound, it is true. Born in the poverty-ridden country of Jamaica, this 34-year-old legend became accustomed to the harsh realities of life early on in his life. However, his fighting mentality got the better of him and earned him the title of ‘World’s second fastest man’. 

Recently, Yohan Blake opened up in an interview where he explored the difficulties of his childhood. He also doubled down on the struggles while having a candid chat, depicting the softer side of the Olympian. 

34-year-old Olympian had poverty as his driving factor towards greatness

Yohan Blake sat down with Simone Clarke in an episode of Sim Soul Sessions. Clarke kicked off the conversation by saying that Blake is usually a quiet person. She further asked him what made him open up lately. Blake answered this by stating that he has reached a point in his life where people need to know what’s going on with him. Soon, the conversation came down to his childhood struggles. Speaking about his childhood experiences, Blake stated, “There was no money for us to go to school really.”

Blake further explained that he learned a few lessons by studying on YouTube. He also pointed out that whenever the family got some money, it was used up to meet the basic life necessities. Thus, being brought up in such an exhausting environment, it would have been a real challenge for Blake to come out as a legend, right? Well, he went on to say that after experiencing acute poverty, he wanted to somehow get out of the nightmare. So in a way, it was poverty that played the biggest role in his life, acting as a motivator. 

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Surely he did manage to make it big at the grandest stages. Today, Yohan Blake is known as one of the greatest athletes to have competed in recent times. He clinched the silver medal in London in 2012, in both the 100m & 200m disciplines. Unfortunately, a looming challenge for Blake was to come out of the shadows of Usain Bolt. 

Yohan Blake on a mission to break the Usain Bolt shackles 

Imagine clocking the best Olympic time in both 100m & 200m and yet, coming second best. This was the endless agony that Blake had to go through. Time and again, Blake was overshadowed by the towering presence of Usain Bolt. After winning the 100m world championship in 2011, Blake also managed to beat Bolt in the 2012 Olympic trials. 

Read More: Paris Olympics: 4X Olympic Medalist to Give Team USA a Run for Their Money in His ‘Last Dance’

Unfortunately, the impeccable performance of Bolt cast out Blake’s brilliance and made him settle for silver. For the records, Blake’s times in 100m and 200m were 9.75s and 19.44s respectively. Well, now that Bolt has retired and Blake has declared Paris as his last Olympics, the 34-year-old would definitely look to break the shackles and come out on top, finally. 

Continue to Read: “I Remember Watching the Race Live”: Usain Bolt’s Iconic Race Takes His Fans Down a Memory Lane