Bolt to make BMW stop-over in Germany
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PAUL A REID, Observer writer
reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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Triple Olympic gold medal winner, Usain Bolt, is to stop over in Germany on his way to the International Associations of Athletics Federation's (IAAF's) Gala event in Monaco to take up offers for specialised driving lessons from auto makers BMW.
The 22-year-old, who left the island yesterday, was given a "fully loaded" custom made BMW M3 as a birthday gift from apparel sponsors, Puma, days after his exploits at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. He is to attend the world famous BMW 'M' driver school at Nuremberg Ring in Germany.
The offer came on August 23 during a press conference in Beijing where Puma CEO, Jochen Zeitz, made the announcement.
The driving lessons came as an initiative from Stewarts Autos, the dealers for BMW in Jamaica.
Just prior to Bolt's return from the Olympics and raced on the European circuit, chairman of Stewarts Motors, Richard Stewart, told the Observer of their plans to ensure that the world's fastest man gets the necessary training to maneuver the powerful sports car.
"We are very conscious of the fact that really and truly with a car of this nature we need to send him (Bolt) to what is called the BMW 'M' driver school, so we are co-ordinating that with BMW, and of course we are looking forward to hosting him with BMW in Germany at a future date after we deliver the car here in Jamaica," he said then.
Bolt, meanwhile, is expected to walk away with at least two awards at this Sunday's Gala, which will be held in the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d'Ete in the Principality of Monaco.
The lanky Jamaican, who broke the 100m and 200m world records, clocking 9.69 and 19.30 seconds, respectively, at the Olympics and was part of the 4x100m relay team which ran a world record 37.10 seconds, has been nominated for the Male Athlete-of-the-Year as well as two nominations for the Performance-of-the-Year awards.
Bolt's performances in the 100m and 200m at the Olympic are among the top three performances nominated.
The other awards to be given out on Sunday are: Revelation of the Year, Rising Star Award, Distinguished Career Award, Inspirational Award and Coaches Award.
Bolt, who has previously won two Rising Star awards, is the first man since compatriot Don Quarrie to hold the 100m and 200m world records simultaneously. He broke the 100m twice in the space of four months after running 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 31.
He has also run a record seven times under 9.85 seconds for the 100m this season, as well as a record five times under 19.85 seconds in the 200m this season.
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