Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz’ Captain Khadjia ”Bunny” Shaw believes the backing of retired sprint legend Usain Bolt has been instrumental to her club football achievements this season.

Shaw currently leads the Women’s Super League (WSL) Golden Boot race for Manchester City, having scored nine goals in as many games. She was named December’s Player of the Month.

Shaw spoke of a recent conversation she had with Bolt, the world’s fastest man and multiple World and Olympic champion, during a recent interview with Manchester Evening News.

“Bolt has always been supportive and we have a good relationship. We speak about my progress, and when he’s in town he lets me know and we would link up,” Shaw said.

“If I’m struggling, whether that means strength work, I’ll reach out to him. We had a really good conversation in March, [when] he told me some things I could work on where I could get an edge over defenders and stuff like that. It’s just the little things, and he always says the little things matter the most,” she further stated.

Shaw and her Manchester City teammates will return to action following the winter break today in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Durham. Next weekend, they will return to the WSL with a home game against Liverpool.

“We just have to keep pushing, keep improving, and just focus on what we can control. It’s about being consistent as we have had some really good results but let ourselves down in other games. Now we’re in a good place, it’s about just keeping the confidence high within the group,” Shaw noted.

Manchester City are currently second on the WSL table, three points behind leaders Chelsea, and Shaw will be aiming to steer the Gareth Taylor’s side to a first WSL title since 2016.

“I think for me the sky is the limit. I think there’s a lot more room to improve, especially when I watch back my videos. It’s about keeping my head down, working hard on the pitch, building good relationships with my teammates and just keep pushing on,” the 26-year-old Shaw said.

Since joining Manchester City in 2021, Shaw has been lighting the sparks. Shaw had a fantastic season last year, scoring 20 goals in 22 WSL games and 31 goals in total across all competitions. She became the first Jamaican to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award in the process.