Usain Bolt of Jamaica [Carlos Barria/Reuters]

The young Jamaican yearned to run in the 100 meters, but his coach diverted his attention, saying that he could run the shorter distance if he broke the 200-meters national record.

In the Jamaican Championships he ran 19.75 seconds in the 200-meters, breaking the 36-year-old Jamaican record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds.

Since then, Bolt took a more serious toward developing in the 100 meters. In the event at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston in May this year, Bolt ran 9.76 seconds, the second-fastest legal performance in the history of the event. That was second only to compatriot Asafa Powell's 9.74-seconds record set the previous year.

Less than a month later, he established a new 100-meters world record, running 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. The record time was even more remarkable in light of the fact that it was only his fifth senior run over the distance.

Turning his efforts to the 200 meters, Bolt proved that he could excel in multiple events, breaking the national record again with a 19.67-seconds finish in Athens, Greece.