Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt has declared his “sports life over”, after giving up on his dream of being a football star.
The sprinting star had a trial at A-League side Central Coast Mariners and spent two months in Australia, eventually being released from the club in November.
Bolt, a Manchester United fan, also rejected the chance to join Maltese club Valletta, while he said he had a number of other offers from teams.
“It was fun while it lasted,” said the 100m and 200m world record holder. “I don’t want to say it wasn’t dealt with properly, but I think we went about it not the way we should.”
But he added: “You live and you learn. It was a good experience – I really enjoyed just being in a team.”
Bolt made two appearances for the Mariners, both coming in friendly matches, scoring two goals against amateur side Macarthur South West United.
Bolt, who retired from athletics in 2017, has said his focus now lies with his various commercial endeavours.
“I’m just doing many different things … the sports life is over, so I’m now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I’m just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now.”
